And Shut Up!
by haliad
Summary: A story following the sixth year of Kate Nolan, the only teenage girl who seems utterly repelled by Sirius Black. Then again she is best friends with Lily Evans, who has perfected the art of being tempestuous. SiriusOC, LilyJames.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**- I don't own Potterverse, and at times I will borrow from other sources (Buffy, lines from other movies, etc). If you happen to catch those burrowed quotes or sources, then good on you.

***original author's note-**

As Jane Austen once said about her character Emma Woodhouse, "I am going to take a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like." That's basically this story. If you have any kind of feedback, whether its positive, negative, concrit, then please review. Even it's just to say, "HEY YOU! YEAH, YOU!... hi." I'll take it, dammit.

* * *

Chapter One

* * *

Once upon a time (or three weeks ago) Kate Nolan had received her prefects badge through the mail. Then she lost it. What's more, she lost the badge on the morning she was supposed to be returning to Hogwarts.

"Kate!" her mother's voice screeched. "Come _on_! We're late as it is!"

The sixteen year old witch shuffled into her bedroom and unzipped her school trunk, rifling through her belongings despite the hours of meticulous packing she had done over the weekend. She wasn't particularly pleased with herself for misplacing something as important as her prefect badge. If she didn't find it soon, her mother would likely find out and worsen the situation. After scourging through the trunk she began fumbling through her desk drawers. She heard the sound of a car pulling into the driveway, which meant the cab had arrived.

A white cat sat unhelpfully, staring at Kate with large green eyes. While plunging her arm under the bed, Kate saw the feline lazily staring at her, and she swatted at the cat to get away. Lady stood up to hiss and as she rose, Kate spotted the gleaming badge that had been hidden beneath the cat.

Gasping, Kate sent a glare over toward Lady. "You devil!"

Lady purred in respond. Kate pinned the badge to her jumper and zipped the trunk up once more. She headed downstairs with her supplies in tow and Lady scooped up in her arm.

"Dress warmly, dear, it's chilly," Mrs Nolan said as Kate reached the landing of the stairs. Nolan grabbed a scarf off the coat rack and wrapped it around Kate's pale neck.

Her mother wasn't lying - when Kate stepped outside, a cold gust of wind hit her immediately. Kate wrapped the scarf closer around her, trying to ignore the shiver that ran down her spine.

"Shouldn't we put Lady in her cage?" asked her father as he loaded Kate's trunk into the car.

"No," said Kate firmly, holding the cat closer to her chest. "She'll behave without it."

"I don't think Kings Cross Station allows animals loose, though..."

Kate climbed into the back of the yellow cab while still holding Lady. Unsurprisingly, the car ride to Kings Cross station was uneventful. While Mr Nolan kept bugging the Muggle cab driver over whether he was headed in the right direction, Mrs Nolan was checking to make sure that Kate had packed everything for the new school year.

"Oh, your prefect badge!" yelped Mrs Nolan, startling the cab driver. "You do have that, don't you?"

Kate pointed at her chest to assure her mother.

"I hope you do a better job this year," said her mother. "I cannot believe I got that letter from your professor, complaining about your incompetence."

Kate froze. "Wait, what?"

"Oh, I was too busy to tell you," said Mrs Nolan. "Yesterday morning I received a letter from a professor of yours. He claimed that you were very inept at being a prefect and urged you to give up your post. I don't want any letters like that this year, do you hear me Kate Edith Nolan?"

Kate gaped at her mother. "You've never mentioned this! Which professor sent the letter?"

Her mind immediately strayed to Professor Sinistra, who had accused Kate of brown-nosing last year.

"It was Professor Potter, I think," she said absentmindedly.

"Professor Potter?!" Kate repeated disbelievingly.

"Come to think of it, his assistant signed the letter as well. Mr Black, I belief. Funny to think a Black working at such a low-ranking position as teacher's assistant, but that's what it said in the letter."

Kate growled in annoyance. She shouldn't have been so surprised, Black and Potter pulled these sort of stunts all the time. She supposed they were trying to get her in trouble, as she had done to them so many times.

"Anyway, your prefect friend wrote another after," continued Mrs Nolan. "Remus is his name. Contrary to what those professors had said, he claimed you were doing an excellent job and that I should be proud. I didn't know who to believe - Remus is such a nice boy."

Kate made a mental note to thank Remus Lupin later.

"You know who else is a nice boy," said Mrs Nolan, "is that Jude Carmichael. His mother Annette told me that he made Head Boy this year."

"You remember Annette, don't you Jonathan?" she turned toward her husband, as if she had just remembered his existence. "Although she was a Hufflepuff, not Ravenclaw."

Mr Nolan simply nodded and readjusted the Muggle map, trying his best to decipher it. Kate inwardly sighed, tired at how often her mother tried to skew terms into whether or not somebody had been in Ravenclaw house.

* * *

Once the Nolan family made it to Kings Cross, Kate said goodbye to her parents even before transitioning between platforms nine and ten. She was not in the mood to deal with her embarrassing parents in front her peers. After her parents left, Kate found a compartment on the scarlet train to put her luggage in.

Setting Lady's cage aside, Kate grabbed the heavy trunk and attempted to lift it up off the ground. However, her legs buckled under the weight and she ended up dropping the trunk altogether.

Under her breath, she angrily murmured, "Six years of heaving this ruddy thing, and I still can't get it over - "

"Need some assistance?" came a male's smooth voice.

Startling, Kate spun around and found a blonde boy leaning against the train, grinning amusedly at her. He was at least a foot taller than Kate and somewhat handsome in a homely sort of way. The boy wordlessly grabbed her trunk and tossed it into an empty space on the train with great ease.

Kate was speechless for a minute, until she finally found her senses again and said, "Thanks."

He smiled, causing her stomach to flutter for a moment. "No problem." He held out his hand for Kate to shake. "I don't know if you remember me - "

"Of course I do, Jude Carmichael," Kate assured while taking his hand. "I'm Katie Nolan."

"Of course I knew that," grinned Jude.

She gazed at the seventeen year old, taken aback that a boy would even bother paying this much attention to her. Then again, it was bound to happen this year. Kate considered herself the late bloomer amongst her friends. Of her friends, Merle Lucas was the first to date in third year. She was followed by Lily Evans, who gained countless admirers beginning her fourth year.

Kate had been the only one with no offers (unless Peter Pettigrew stuttering at her counted as an offer). She didn't know whether this was attributed to her somewhat uptight personality or her not-quite-as-developed physical traits, which had only arrived over her summer holiday.

Jude smiled down at her once again. He seemed to be doing that a lot.

"I guess I'll be seeing you at the prefect's meeting, then?"

"Huh? Oh, yes. Right. I'll see you then. Congratulations, by the way." She pointed at the Head Boy badge pinned to his shirt.

The pair lingered a tad longer than necessary, before Jude finally departed the same time that Kate heard her name being called. A rasping knock sounded at her left, and she saw the reflection of her friend Lily Evans. Kate grinned and headed for that same compartment.

Once she entered, Lily shouted "Kate!" simultaneously while Marlene smirked and said, "Katherine."

After giving Lily a customary hug, Kate sent Merle a warning look.

"How many times, Merle? My name is not Katherine, it has never been Katherine."

Merle, as though about to disprove Kate once and for all, asked knowingly, "Does it say Katherine on your birth certificate?"

"No," Kate stated flatly.

"Oh."

"Now that that's over," said Lily wryly. "How did your summer go?"

Kate didn't miss a beat. "Horrid, and yours?"

"The worst," supplied Lily in return.

"Why is it that we always seem to have bad summers?" asked Kate.

"Hey, what's summer without a little family dysfunctionalism," offered Merle rather optimistically. "Come on, am I right?"

"My family is not dysfunctional," assured Lily. "Only my sister's brain is, as long as she continues dating that lump of a whale named Vernon Dursley."

Merle smiled and said, "I thought his name was Vermin?" She was of course referring to the affectionate nickname that Lily dubbed him over their summer letters.

"Oh yes, I'd forgotten that one," said Lily, nodding. Then she turned toward Kate to continue the discussion. "I assume your mother is as overbearing as ever?"

"Not quite as overbearing as last summer," admitted Kate. "She was unable to fulfill her quota of reminding me that I wasn't in Ravenclaw. Only six times." She shook her head in feigned disappointment.

"Ugh, is she still on about that?" groaned Merle. "Well, hey, you might as well be Ravenclaw, seeing as your annoyingly right like the rest of them."

"Thanks, Merle. That is a great comfort to me."

"Speaking of annoyingly right," butted in Lily, who was glancing at her wristwatch. "Kate, don't you have a prefect's meeting to be attending to?"

"Annoyingly right you are, Lil," said Kate, who stood up from her seat. "I'll see you lot in an hour. If I don't come back, I'm sure none of you will come looking for me."

On her way out, Kate passed a snogging couple in their early teens. She quickly walked by them, unsure whether she had the authority as a prefect to separate them. She would have to review the manual.

To her great annoyance, when Kate arrived at the prefect carriage she found that the entrance was flanked with three familiar boys from her year. Unable to stop herself, Kate blurted out, "Aren't there supposed to be four of your idiots?"

The idle chat stopped and three heads turned her way. The tallest of the bunch (though she doubted he would stay the tallest for long, as they seemed to be in a physical race of fastest growths berg) readjusted his glasses and smirked at the sight of Kate.

"Well if it isn't our favorite prefect!" Potter loudly announced to the corridor. "How's life treating you, Nolan?"

"Wonderfully, now that you've entered it."

James's partner in crime, Sirius Black, crossed his arms in amusement and pointed at Kate, asking James, "Do I detect a hint of sarcasm?"

"Only from the Queen of Acidity herself," said James, reminding Kate of the nicknames they had come up for her last year. It was a known fact that Kate was one of the big adversaries that James and Sirius faced, since she was one of the rare few who stood up to them.

Shrugging off the insult, Kate rolled her eyes at Peter Pettigrew, who stood in a corner snickering at his friends' jokes.

"I don't suppose you lot are going to be waiting for Remus to finish with his meeting?"

"We are, actually," said Peter.

"Then there had better not be any interruptions during the meeting," warned Kate. "If I hear any animalistic noises coming from this corner - "

Sirius let out a fake gasp of shock, and then said in a mocking voice, "Do year hear that, Prongs? She's going to scold us!"

Kate rolled her eyes.

"Oh, you think you're being cute - "

"I _am_ cute," said Sirius, brimming with self-confidence. "At least, according to the female consensus, I am."

Kate's fists curled up in annoyance. James, getting the vibe that another spat was coming on, interjected. "Erm, I'm going to leave before this turns violent. Wormtail?"

Peter nodded and the two set off down the corridor, going unnoticed by Sirius and Kate. This was routine by now, Kate vs Marauders arguments tended to turn into Kate vs Sirius. To Kate that was a noticeable different between James and Sirius - James was tolerable, Sirius was uncompromisingly bullheaded.

Kate crossed her arms at Sirius. "I'm not up for your games this years, Black. Don't be surprised if you find yourself and Potter in detention every afternoon from September till June."

The door to the prefect carriage opened, and the pale face of Remus Lupin appeared, though Kate didn't have the time to break for a hello. Once she was in stride with Black, she would not stop.

"Hullo," said Remus awkwardly. "Erm, the prefect meeting is about to start, just so you know."

"Yeah, fine." Kate slammed the door in Remus's face when she found Sirius snorting at her suggestion.

"Nolan, I'm not a lapdog. Threatening me with detentions isn't going to do anything - "

"Oh, Merlin forbid that you do some actual growing up!" snapped Kate.

"I suppose I should be just like you then," he said sardonically.

Remus stuck his head out of the carriage door once again. "You do know that everyone inside can hear you, right?" he asked us. Sirius shoved Remus back inside the carriage and slammed the door, growling like a dog as he did so. On the other side of the door, Remus's muffled voice returned, "Everybody is also waiting."

"If you don't mind," said Kate, her hands on her hips. "I have a prefects meeting to attend to."

"If you don't mind," countered Sirius just as scathingly, "I have an actual life to attend to, thanks."

Having lost the patience to think up another retort, Kate simply snorted in derision and flung open the door to the carriage door. Sirius pushed passed her, making sure to bump into her on the way out.

"Sorry I'm late," murmured Kate at the amused looks everyone was sending her inside the compartment. She mumbled on about bathroom troubles until she took her seat next to Remus.

"Now that everyone's here," said Jude, and he grinned at her as if to reassure her. Her stomach fluttered for the second time that morning. "Lorelei and I are going to start the meeting now."

* * *

After an unnecessarily long meeting which Kate couldn't concentrate during anyway, the Head students allowed for the torture session to end. On her way back she made sure all the students were abiding by the rules, before finally reaching her friends' train compartment. It only took for Lily to ask how the meeting went for Kate to unload on her rant.

"... Then he goes, 'If you don't mind, I have a life to get to'," she said in a much loftier impression than what Sirius had done. And as an afterthought, added, "Sure, as if hexing first years and being endlessly stared at by pathetic fangirls constitutes a substantial life!"

"Oi!" said Merle, looking not as though she were really cross. "Careful who you insult, I happen to be one of those pathetic fangirls." At the scrutinizing look that Kate gave her, Merle justified herself. "Honestly, who can resist those tempestuous lips and those luscious midnight black locks and endlessly ocean grey pools of orbs - "

"Merle, you're giving me a headache," said Lily while rubbing the temples of her forehead. "Stop barfing up cheesy romance descriptions, it's sickening."

Kate agreed, "Really, Merle, not helping."

"It sounds to me like you two got off on the wrong foot," Lily said to Kate.

"No!" gasped Kate sarcastically.

Lily pressed on though, "What you should have done was acted more civilly. Take me, for instance," there was a slight air of conceit when Lily had said it, causing Merle to snort. "Potter spotted me while boarding the train and waved, and I smiled and waved back. He may have embarrassed us both by running into a trash bin afterward, but that's beside the point. I've given him a clean slate, starting anew. I'm assuming that he's grown out of being the stupid berk I knew last year."

"But that's different!" said Merle, unable to contain herself. "See, everyone knows you and Potter are madly in love with each other and just haven't realized yet. Whereas Kate actually hates Black."

Merle burst into laughter at the affronted look Lily gave her.

"As amusing as watching Lily blunder over not loving Potter," said Kate stiffly, "I have a real problem at hand. McGonagall might as well revoke my prefect duties if I'm not able to think of a way to control Black and Potter this year. Last year, I had made the stupid mistake of hoping Lupin would take care of that. The results were dismal. What I need is something to hold against them."

"Take away their Quidditch?" suggested Lily.

Merle gasped in shock, being a rather obsessed Quidditch fan herself.

"You will do no such thing! If we even want a chance at making those Slytherin poncies cry this year, we need Potter and Black on the team. You wouldn't just be hurting them, but you'd be hurting me as well."

"Oh, well, if that's the price I have to pay," said Kate mock concernedly, "then I'm definitely doing it."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** _Hullo. How are you? Good? Thats nice. Enough of this idle chatter, lets get down to business!_

_The opening for the chapter is pretty much for fun, oatmeal has nothing to do with the plot. (*is getting curious glances for the oatmeal comment*). You'll know what I mean. There isn't a lot of SiriusKate, unless you find silent treatments absolutely sexy. I know I do._

* * *

Chapter 2

* * *

There were a very select amount of people on earth who could honestly claim to have woken up and stepped into a puddle of rabbit piss. Kate Nolan was now one of them.

In immediate time, Kate became alert to the disgusting liquid substance gushing around her foot. She looked down at the floor and saw a very small wet pool near the foot of her bed.

As if on cue, Merle cried out, "What despair!"

Kate opened her mouth, ready to agree with Merle that, indeed, stepping into rabbit piss was despairing. She would remember this for the rest of her life. However, glancing up, Kate saw that Merle was not worried about Kate. Instead, she seemed to be fussing over her the pet rabbit who had caused the mess in the first place.

"Look, he's all peaky!" she said hysterically, holding him up in the air. "Think he caught the flu?

"Can rabbits get the flu?"

Kate sighed at the room's lack of concern for her. "Erm, hello?" she interrupted. "I don't know if anybody's realized this, but I've _stepped_ into your rabbit's _urine_."

"Just look at him, Lil," cooed Merle. "His life is in tatters. Tell me what is wrong, Rabbit!"

"He looks normal to me," said Lily.

"_Why_? Why am I in _piss_? This is not a natural occurrence."

Merle finally took notice to Kate and rolled her eyes. "Could you, for once, think about somebody other than yourself, Nolan? Really, take a look at this despairing creature."

She held the rabbit up to Kate's face, who quickly pushed it out of away.

"Get him away from me! It's his fault my foot is soaked."

Merle sniffed while setting down the rabbit. "I've no idea what you're talking about."

"_Look_, Merle!" Kate suddenly shouted, causing everyone in the room to jump. "_Observe!_ My _foot_ is in _piss!_"

"Then wash it off already," snapped Lily. "And stop making such a fuss. Breakfast is over in ten minutes, y'know."

Kate reluctantly reached for her wand to do a cleaning spell. The last thing she wanted was for Merle to get away with this.

As she began dressing, Kate made sure to send a withering glare over to Merle's rabbit, who by now had begun nibbling on Kate's pillow. Her cat, Lady, joined the rabbit in nibbling. "Traitor," she murmured spitefully.

"Pardon?" asked Lily.

"Nothing."

Once Kate was fully dressed, she pinned her prefect badge to her robes and headed downstairs. She was surprised to find Remus Lupin waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Apparently, he had waited for her, because he started to join her in stride through the Gryffindor common room.

"Need something, Lupin?"

"Erm. I came to remind you that there's a prefect meeting at four o'clock. It's in the Transfiguration classroom."

"I know," she said, feeling annoyed that Remus felt that he had to remind her. If anything, she was more responsible with her job than he was, having taken care of his rule-breaking friends when he was too timid to do so, and not to mention he would miss patrolling due to a "mysterious illness."

"Also," added Remus, "I wanted to talk to you about..." he trailed off. "... my friends?"

Kate paused right outside the Fat Lady's portrait and turned toward Remus. She thought this typical of Remus, to attempt to make peace before a tumultuous year.

"What about your friends?"

"I'm hoping that you have a better understanding with them this year," he said 'understanding' with hesitance.

"Are you asking me to go easy on them?" asked Kate, outraged at the mere idea.

"No! No, I'm saying that both sides should try getting along."

"Now you're calling me uncivil."

"No, w – stop putting words into my mouth!" said Remus desperately. "Look, I just didn't want any strife between you and James and Sirius."

"Hold it!" Kate yelled at a passing third year, who groaned and turned toward her. She held out her hand and said, "Empty your pocket robes." Scowling, the boy did as he was told and handed her a Fanged Frisbee, which she happily confiscated. "Bloody prefects," he grumbled while striding away. Kate turned back to Remus to finish the conversation.

"As long as Potter and Black continue to misbehave, there will always be some strife, unfortunately. I hate to make you the middle man, Lupin, but someone needs to instill discipline, and make up for what little you've done."

Remus sighed at Kate, afraid that she would call him out on this.

Kate continued, "It's not going to be like last year where you ignored them whenever they hexed a Slytherin."

"Are you coming, Kate?" asked Lily, who had walked some feet ahead of them.

"I guess I'll talk to you later," said Remus.

But before he could get away, Kate said, "Thanks, by the way. I mean, the letter you wrote to my mum, after Black and Potter's letter."

Remus smiled mirthlessly. "Found out about that, did you?"

Kate nodded and then joined Lily and Merle as they bounded toward breakfast. The Great Hall was its cheery self, with students chatting to catch up on what happened during the holidays.

After speaking with Professor McGonagall about class schedules, Kate and her friends were left in peace for breakfast.

"How goes it, Evans?" said James voice from Kate's left.

Kate looked across the table and saw that Lily was taking great effort to fully swallow the bagel which was in her mouth in order to answer. James, who must have thought Lily was giving him the slip, found this discouraging and said, "Right," before walking away.

Too late, Lily yelled, "Doing just fine, thanks!" She looked at Kate and Merle. "That was embarrassing."

"He's beginning to annoy me anyway," said Merle while buttering a piece of toast. "He hardly says hello to me or Kate. It's like other girls don't even exist."

"Why are you being so nice to him anyway?" Kate asked Lily. "It's not going to last, that clean slate business. He's eventually going to do something idiotic and everything will be back to square one. You wait."

"Have some faith, Kate," said Lily. "Boys are bound to grow up sometime. Maybe Potter has changed this ye-_oh my God what is he doing_?!" Lily's tone had changed drastically from defensive to affronted.

Merle and Kate looked over in James' direction and saw that in the Entrance Hall he and Sirius Black already had someone hanging upside down my the ankle.

"Is that a first year?!" cried Lily, turning red.

"Oh Lily," said Merle, smiling ironically. "_Have some faith_."

"I'll deal with it," said Kate, standing up from the table.

However, before Kate could make it through the Entrance Hall doors, Headmaster Dumbledore announced that breakfast was over and hundreds of students filed out the doors before she could. By the time Kate made it to the other side, there was no sign of James or Sirius anywhere. She made an oath to deal with them later and headed to her first class, which she saw on her schedule was Charms.

* * *

The NEWT classes, although fascinating, had doubled in homework from last year's load. Kate paid particular attention in Defense Against the Darks Arts because she had an inkling that it would come in handy later, when dealing with the upcoming war against Voldemort.

In most of the classes, Lily had found a way to outshine Kate in some way. Kate was used to that by now, having accepted the fact that Lily was naturally a bright student. Kate, on the other hand, would be able to beat Lily later through excellent essays.

Kate was surprised to find that the professor of her best subject, History of Magic, was no longer human. According to Professor McGonagall, Professor Binns had died in his sleep but when he awoke he simply continued teaching as a ghost. Even though Kate tried to give her condolences to Professor Binns, he had little interest.

In the corridors between classes, Kate would keep her eye out for troublemakers, but found none. When she asked fellow prefects, they had a similar peace during their patrol of Hogwarts, which peeved Kate to no end.

She still vividly recalled her first day as a prefect last year, chaos had reigned: the entire third floor bathrooms were flooded, three duels had broken out between Gryffindors and Slytherins (two of which the Marauders were involved with) and she had to help a poor first year who had somehow gotten herself trapped inside a portrait.

This morning, the only troublemaker she had encountered was the third year with the Fanged Frisbee. The lack of chaos unnerved her, and by the time Lily and Kate had reached an off period, Kate was on the brink of paranoia.

"Don't you find it funny?" Kate asked Lily while suspiciously eying all the students who strode down the hall. "Not one of them have broken a rule yet. I spoke to Jude Carmichael today and he said none of the prefects have had problems. There has to be something, it's Hogwarts, after all."

Lily arched her eyebrow at Kate. "You're beginning to sound an awful lot like you're bored. Almost as if you _want_ someone to break the rules."

Kate let out a fake laugh. "Don't be ridiculous, Lily. Why should I want somebody to break rules? That's just silly."

The duo went through the hall's oak door and strode down the sunny lawn, toward the lake. They found a quiet tree to sit under.

"I just think it's odd," continued Kate. "You don't suppose..." Kate shook her head. "You know who I'm sure has done something wrong by now? The Marauders."

Lily sighed. "Don't tell me you're going to pick another fight with them. It's getting really old by now, especially since we're sixth years."

"They're probably hexing Snape by now, Lily!" justified Kate.

"So?" Lily averted her eyes when she had said this. "Snape isn't a friend anymore, you know that."

"But that doesn't make it right, does it? That they're out there hexing him?"

"Please." Lily rolled her eyes. "You don't really care about Severus Snape, and you never have. You're only looking for a reason to punish them, aren't you?"

"Am I that transparent?" said Kate dripping with sarcasm, though she knew deep down inside that Lily was right. "That I'm bored enough to follow the Marauders and look for reasons to get them in trouble? Really, Lily, I'm not that pathetic."

"Then why are you looking for them?"

"I'm just going to remind Remus about a prefects meeting."

"Liar."

"I'm not lying."

"You're lying."

"I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"I am."

"I know."

Kate gave Lily a look of annoyance. "Lily, aren't you supposed to side with me here? I mean, last year you hated Black and Potter as much as I did, remember?"

"I don't hate them," claimed Lily as she crossed her arms, and Kate stared disbelievingly.

"Lily, I believe your exact words were, 'I hate them with the fire of a thousand dragons'."

"I said that out of anger."

"What about this morning, when you were going on about Potter changing until you saw him with that poor first year?"

Lily gave me a cross look. "Just because he's a prat doesn't mean I hate them. Other than being prats, they're jokes can be a bit funny - "

Kate gasped, "Traitor!"

"Don't be so melodramatic! I'm going to the library before you unfairly accuse me of something else. Goodbye."

"Fine, abandon me!"

Unfortunately, Kate did not have enough time to hunt down the Marauders and catch them in the act of some unspeakable crime. She had to finish the essay she was working on if she wanted to lessen her homework load before the end of the day. Once the hour was over, she headed for her last class of the day.

Kate groaned when she saw the last class on her schedule: Potions. She loathed Potions, because not only did she hate Professor Slughorn who was unabashed about his favoritism, but it was her worst subject. Anything that involved physical work, Kate was clumsy at. Wand work was her weak spot, and naturally so was Potion-making.

When Kate arrived at the corridor outside the dungeon classroom, she saw that only about a dozen people had progressed to NEWT level. She spotted the same Slytherins she had expected: Snape, Rosier and Nott. There were two Hufflepuffs in the midst, Alice Scott and Amelia Bones.

To her surprise, there seemed to be only one Ravenclaw (Marlene McKinnon) and even more surprising was that the Gryffindors outnumbered all the other Houses, with a total of eight members including herself. She supposed all the Gryffindors liked treating Potions like a social hour for friends, since most of the class consisted of standing around and brewing Potions. Kate knew the only reason she continued Potions was to stick with her friends.

"I've already got a load of homework," Lily said when Kate had joined the throng of sixth years waiting outside the classroom. "Ten-inch essay for Herbology already. Seen Merle around?"

"I imagine she's already gotten lost somewhere in the castle."

"I resent that," said another voice, and Merle appeared right by Lily's shoulders and smirked. "I've got homework as well. My Astronomy professor expects us to write a five-inch essay on the moon. The moon! What's there to write about with the moon? It's big, it's round, it's white, it's the moon! The end."

"Well," butted in Lily, who now joined the group of girls outside the classroom. "You could always write about the effect the moon has on victims of lycanthropy."

"Or," cut in a desperate voice, which turned out to be Remus Lupin. Apparently he had abruptly stopped all conversation with James, Sirius and Peter to contribute to their discussion, "There are plenty of other topics concerning the moon. For instance - er - gravity, and such. Or perhaps the mythology that surrounds..."

He trailed off at the strange looks the girls were sending him.

Merle smiled falsely and said, "Right!" then turned her back so that it was facing Lupin and mouthed, "What a weirdo."

At that moment Professor Slughorn chose to emerge from the Potions classroom and allowed his sixth year students inside. "So happy to have you all back! Lovely faces, happy faces... I'm glad to see many Slug Club members are returned." He eyed the more prominent Sluggers like Lily Evans and Severus Snape.

When everyone had settled in, Slughorn went to the front of the classroom and began his lecture.

"This year will be different, I can promise you," boomed Slughorn, smiling. "You're in NEWT Potions now. For one thing, the level of potions-making will become much more advanced. Yes, for those of you who barely scrapped an Exceeds Expectations on your OWL, beware."

Kate sighed. She was one of those people who the professor was referring to. She had only tried so hard on her OWL because she wanted to stay in the same classes as her friends, and she was certain Lily was going to continue with Potions. She glanced around the classroom to see who else was here for the same reasons.

Peter Pettigrew, he could hardly measure up to his friends talent-wise, but he was still a fair student by himself; and Merle, who despite her laziness in all her classes, got surprisingly high marks on all her OWL exams.

"Also," continued Slughorn, cutting Kate out of her reverie, "Professor Dumbledore gave me an idea for this year's lesson plans. He pressed the staff with the importance of House unity this year, and how the professors ought to encourage it. So that gave me the idea of pairing the students this year-"

There was a series of groans admitted from the students. Nobody wanted to be paired with someone other than their friends.

"I know, I know," smiled Slughorn ruefully. "It's all very unfair, but such is life. I have randomly sorted all of you together with one year-long partner. He or she may or may not be from your House, since it is completely random." Slughorn lifted his wand and several thin pieces of paper materialized over the desks. All of the papers had students' names on them. "Find your name and the person who you are sitting next to will be your partner."

Kate sent her friends a last 'this is it' look before gathering her books and shuffling around the classroom to find her name. While circling the dungeon, she saw the partnerships that were already forming: Amelia Bones and Alice Scott, Marlene McKinnon and Severus Snape, Merle Lucas and Remus Lupin. She audibly heard people groan and complain at who their partners were.

"With all due respect, Professor," said James Potter's voice loudly, "but what the hell?" Kate spun around and saw that James had been paired with the Slytherin Evan Rosier.

"No need for obscenities, Mr Potter," said Slughorn happily. "If you have a serious issue with your partner then you can take it up with me after class."

At the back of the classroom, she finally saw her name at the last desk. But to her great dismay, Sirius Black, with a very clear scowl etched across his face, sat sulkily in the seat next to Kate's.

Kate sat down and scanned the classroom for the rest of her friends. Lily had been paired with Peter Pettigrew, and Merle with Remus Lupin. She caught a glimpse of Lily politely smiling at Peter. Then she noticed Merle turning around in her seat to give Kate the thumbs up. Apparently, Merle was very happy to have gained such a brainy partner, but what Merle didn't know was that Remus was rather poor at brewing complex potions.

Slughorn continued the lesson.

"This year we will start with an attempt at Draught of Living Death. I'm not expecting perfection, here, people," he said over the students who had already gotten out cauldrons and started burners. "But do put in your best effort. The potion should be fairly fast to make, as you now have the help of another with the process! Begin!"

There was a scraping as Kate wordlessly drew up her cauldron and Sirius used his wand to use light the burner. Kate began shuffling through her copy of Advanced Potion-Making to find the page that concerned Draught of Living Death.

When she finally did find the page (which took longer than necessary), she was upset to see that Sirius had his textbook open to the correct page and had already added chopped Valerian roots to the cauldron and was moving on to the next set of ingredients. He seemed to be doing this rather quickly and, to her annoyance, very sloppily. He was a worse potion brewer than her.

Kate wanted to tell him that she would be caught up with him if he had only told her the correct page, but it was at that moment that Kate realized that they had not spoken a word to each other since the lesson began, and she was sure Sirius wanted it to stay that way.

_Fine_, thought Kate. And she began moving onto the ingredient that was ahead of the sopophorous bean which Sirius was cutting.

This lasted for the rest of the hour, as neither Sirius nor Kate would cave in to communicate with each other. While Sirius began furiously stirring to finish the potion (he seemed peeved that Severus Snape and Marlene McKinnon had already finished their potion and were packing up), Kate checked on the rest of her friends to see how they were progressing.

Although patient with him in the beginning, Lily had grown frustratingly irritated with Peter's cluelessness by the end of the hour.

"Honestly, Pettigrew, the book clearly says you need to chop up the sopophorous bean before throwing it in, so why did you just throw the entire bean in?" demanded Lily, who for the first time in her life was behind in the class because of Peter's mistake.

"Sorry," said Peter sorely, "I wasn't paying attention."

"How did you even get an E on your Potion OWL?" she snapped at him, causing poor Peter to flush in embarrassment.

Merle and Remus had gotten into a ridiculous argument about which way was clockwise and counterclockwise. Unsurprisingly, Merle was wrong about the matter. But for the sake of keeping the amusing argument going, when Merle and Remus asked Kate which person was right, Kate shrugged and moved onto the next table.

Out of curiosity, Kate walked by the desk that James and Evan Rosier were at. Instead using words to communicate, they were doing some weird, animalistic growls and grunts at each other while the potion brewed.

"Great," muttered Kate under her breath. Even James and Rosier were able to be at some level of communication, even if it was barely functional, but her and Sirius were simply incapable of even speaking to one another.

By the time Kate had returned to her seat, she was glad that Sirius had finished their Draught of Living Death; he even corked it into a vial and turned it into Professor Slughorn for her. But it still didn't ease the aching feeling at the bottom of Kate's stomach, the feeling that told her she was in for a horrible year.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:**_ This is the same chapter with a few changes and an added scene in the second half. Any feedback is encouraging to hear! **Lets me know that I am not alone in the fanfiction universe**. The truth is out there, man. I want to believe.  
_

* * *

Chapter 3

* * *

Kate resisted the very strong urge to smash her face into the plate of eggs in front of her. In short time, she would be forced to spend another hour with Sirius Black. She secretly feared whether this daily ritual of torment would have a long-term effect on her self-esteem.

"Bloody idiot," she murmured to her goblet of pumpkin juice.

"Who?"

Kate sent her friends withering glares, as if they ought to be able to read Kate's mind.

"Dumbledore!" she snapped. "Who do you think I mean? Slughorn. And his bloody unreasonable idea to pair everyone up. It's maddening."

"Oh, I know," sighed Lily exasperatedly. "Pettigrew is sweet and all, but he's an utter idiot. Honestly, who doesn't know the difference between a crushed scarab's powder, which has a sand coloring, and moonstone powder mixed with Re'em's blood, which is a pure white coloring. Stupid, right?"

Merle and Kate blankly stared at Lily, not having the slightest idea what she meant.

"Right," said Merle in order to pick up the conversation. "You'd think Lupin would be a genius at Potions, right? He's not. While making Draught of Peace, he tried to add purple food coloring so that the potion looked like the color it should have been."

"Merle, that was you," pointed out Kate.

"But you didn't see him try to stop me, did you?" countered Merle.

"Yes he did, Merle, his exact words were, 'Merle, stop pouring in food coloring, you'll ruin our Potion'. Then it got ruined!"

"Kate, why must you always rain on my parade?!" said Merle loudly, causing other students to turn their heads.

"Why must you always parade under my rain?" said Kate, equally disdainful.

"You will two prats grow up," snapped Lily to broke up the squabble. "I'm getting a headache from hearing your voices."

Sighing, Kate pushed her plate away and slung her bag over her shoulder. Lily and Merle mimicked her, and joined her as she entered the Entrance Hall. The trio started to turn and head for the dungeons, but Kate's path was suddenly blocked by a fifth year Hufflepuff, Phedra Dearborn.

"Er, hullo?"

"Hi," said Phedra briefly. "Can I talk to you? Privately?"

The Hufflepuff then glanced at Merle and Lily. While Lily smiled and began walking past, Merle's immediate reaction was to take great offense.

"Fine!" howled Merle melodramatically. "But I'm watching you!" She conspiratorially narrowed her eyes at Christine and slowly back away into the crowded hallway of students.

"Ignore her, she's a freak," said Kate. "What do you need?"

Phedra hesitated for a moment, staring at all the passing students on their way to classes to make sure none were eavesdropping.

"I - I saw you talking to Sirius Black," she said in a rushed voice. "And I was just wondering how you know him?"

Kate arched her eyebrows at the girl. "You're kidding, right?" By Phedra's hopeful expression, Kate could tell she was, in fact, not kidding. Kate sighed, "He's my Potions partner. Oh and also the bane of my very existence, in case you weren't aware." Kate was hoping that this would discourage Phedra from asking anymore questions about Sirius Black. Obviously, she was wrong, because Phedra continued.

"What could you tell me about him?"

Kate laughed mirthlessly. "Fantastic," she said. "Another admirer. With all due respect, Dearborn, he's already got a billion of those. Why don't you try shooting for someone a little more sensible, someone who genuinely deserves the attention."

But by the hard stare Phedra was sending Kate, she knew it was unlikely of her to give up. Kate glanced around the hall, looking for some sort of excuse or escape route. There were none.

"Listen," said Kate determinedly, "I'm very sorry, but I despise Black with every fiber of my being. I couldn't possible try to help someone win his heart, because it would be wrong, plain and simple. If you really want to get to know him, I recommend asking his best friend, James Potter-"

"But I already asked him!" she cried in a desperate tone. "He just gave me the slip."

Kate shrugged, and began to turn around to walk away. "There's nothing I can do, sorry."

"Well," added Phedra in a soft voice. "There is something you could do, actually."

"What?" she asked with reluctance.

"You're best friends with Lily Evans. She's the best at potions in the school. Besides Severus Snape, that is. Seeing as he's a rather, erm _unfriendly_ character, perhaps you could get Lily to help me concoct a potion... Specifically, a love potion."

Kate gaped at Phedra. Was she serious?

"If all else fails, then maybe a small push would get Sirius to realize that he likes me."

Kate couldn't help but consider the idea. Phedra was insane and obsessive, no doubt, but the idea of Sirius under a love spell was admittedly appealing. In fact, it would result in absolute hilarity if done right. Kate would be deemed a hero, a legend to all the students who had been on the receiving end of Sirius's pranks. It would be a brilliant vengeance, taking the charmer and turning him charmed.

Then Kate shook her head, ridding these vengeful thoughts. As amusing as the idea was, Kate could not play a hand in such a cruel ordeal, even if it was Sirius Black. Not only did it go against her ethics, but helping a girl vying for Sirius's affection was not something she wanted to take part in. She wanted to distance herself from Black's personal life as much as possible.

"Sorry, no," she told Phedra, whose force contorted disappointedly. Not knowing what else to do, Kate spun on her heels and walked away.

On her way out of the Entrance Hall, Kate finally noticed that most of the hallways were now devoid of students, meaning that class was perhaps in session. Cursing herself and Christine for stalling her with diabolical schemes, Kate took off down the hallway at top speed. Eventually, she reached the dungeons and entered Slughorn's classroom, out of breath.

As she reached her desk, she collapsed into her chair, windswept and breathing heavily.

Sirius gave her an amused look and said, "Maybe lessen the donut consumption, Nolan?" It was loud enough for the entire classroom to hear.

Kate sent Sirius a withering glare and whispered darkly under her breath, "Thanks for the pearls of wisdom."

Suddenly, a huge brass-colored cauldron slammed right in front of Sirius and Kate, startling them both.

"Oh, my apologies," laughed Professor Slughorn. "It's quite heavy. Do me a favor, try not to consume the contents of this particular cauldron, eh? We wouldn't want any, er, accidents happening between you two." Slughorn loudly guffawed, oblivious to the apathetic faces other were giving him. He moved on to the next desk, placing another cauldron there.

"Freak," Sirius murmured very quietly, then leaned forward to take a whiff out of the cauldron placed in front of them. Kate did the same thing, and as they inhaled at the same time, the most enticing scents filled their nostrils.

Kate couldn't be sure what Sirius was smelling, but she was instantly reminded of childhood memories, particularly the ones that involved her exploring fresh gardens and endlessly staring at blue skies. She also smelled vanilla.

Inexplicably, for a moment her blue eyes caught with Sirius' gray ones, and she felt a strong blush creeping up her neck. Not enjoying the lightheaded sensation that had overcome her, Kate abruptly shoved the cauldron away to avoid the feeling.

Snapping out of it, Sirius gruffly cleared his throat and said, "Amortentia?" while being very careful to avoid her eyes again.

Kate nodded, mumbling, "Hmm."

They said nothing else until the lesson was resumed.

"Now that each table has a cauldron," said Slughorn, grinning amiably at his sixth year students, "I'd like each pair to waver a guess at the potion contents based on your five senses."

After Severus Snape and Marlene McKinnon identified theirs as Draught of Living Death, and Lily recognized hers as Polyjuice Potion, Sirius told Slughorn, "We've got Amortentia."

There was an outbreak of murmuring through the classroom amongst those who knew Amortentia. To add to the excitement, a grinning James clapped his hands and giggled giddily, causing students around him to laugh. Sirius threw a wadded ball at James's head in playfulness.

"Alright, settle down," said Slughorn, quieting the excited chatter. "Yes, it's a love potion. Though it does not necessarily create the effect of _real_ love, it does create an infatuation. Mister Black and Miss Nolan have the luxury of being nearby the cauldron, which emits the scents which seduces a person according to your tastes."

Kate felt Sirius shift in his seat beside her. She saw Lily turning around in her seat and grin; the redhead mouthed "You're blushing," at Kate, who snapped her quill in half. Thankfully, no one else seemed to notice that Kate was indeed blushing.

* * *

Near the end of the class, when nearly all the students were finished brewing their potions, Slughorn decided to make a grand last-minute announcement to the classroom about this year's Halloween celebration.

"For this year, I'll be hosting a more traditional Halloween party. A costume party, if you will."

Slughorn broke out into a grin as several students leaned forward in avid interest. "And because you're my NEWT class," continued Slughorn happily, "you're all more than welcome to attend. The only requirement is that you show up in a costume, otherwise you won't be permitted inside. But please, keep the costume choices appropriate for the school dress code! Eight years ago, I had a particularly gutsy Gryffindor pupil show up in his birthday suit. Of course, the poor fellow was under a large consumption of mead."

As Sirius heartily laughed beside her, Kate rolled her eyes in annoyance, not in the least thrilled about a costume party. But much to her dismay, she caught Merle and Lily all grinning at each other from their seats across the room, apparently as excited about the party as the other students. She inwardly groaned, realizing that she'd most likely be forced to attend the event.

After the bell rang, Kate's worst fears were confirmed when while she was strolling in the corridor, all three of her friends gathered around her, already in talks of the party.

"We could go to Gladrags Wizardwear, that's in Hogsmeade," suggested Lily. "I'm sure the shop owner will be selling costumes for Halloween. What do you think?"

"I'm going to try for a mermaid costume, if it's not too expensive," said Merle coyly. "Maybe by the end of the night, I could take a dip in the Hogwarts lake to see if I fool the other mermaids in there."

"A mermaid, that's brilliant," said Lily, envious that Merle had come up with the idea. "I'll have to buy a costume as well. I haven't gone Halloween trick or treating since I was ten. Coincidentally, I went as a witch. Do you have any idea what you're dressing as, Kate?"

"Erm, no. I'm not going."

"Typical," said Merle. "What did I tell you guys? _Kath-her-rine_ is allergic to fun."

"I'm not really the type to dress up," said Kate, ignoring Merle's comment. "It's kid stuff."

"Are you calling us children?" asked Lily, mock accusingly.

"Yes," Kate said simply.

"You know, I'm starting to believe Merle when she says you're allergic to fun," said Lily apologetically. "Come on, Kate. This is something you should do. If you don't go, you'll be missing out on a night that the three of us we'll be talking about."

Kate realized that she had a point.

"Alright, I'll go," Kate told her friends in a resigned voice. They all smiled, relieved. "Hogsmeade is this weekend, so we'll meet at Gladrags Wizardwear then."

"Right," said Merle. "If we owl our parents now, then they could wire us the money before then. It'll be SPECTACULAR, muhuhahahaha!" She wrung her hands in a comically villainous way, causing the other girls to stare at her in wonder.

Lily looked to Kate and said, "You know, I'm beginning to think that she's legally insane."

Kate added, "That's funny, I knew along."


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:** _Not much Sirius/Kate interaction, but it does cover the dynamics of the foursome friendship of the girls. If I did my job correctly, then you'll all see everyone has a little role to play: Lily is the reasonable one, Alice is the glue who tries to keep everyone together, Merle is the tension breaker, and Kate really adds a wry sense of humor and likes to keep everyone in check. If anyone currently hates Kate for being a humorless bitch, that's how its supposed to start. No girl would heartily dislike Sirius unless she was really uptight herself, but I'm hoping she grows into a more likable character over time. Cheers!_

* * *

Chapter 4

* * *

Kate stared precariously over Hogsmeade village, with its snowy streets bustling with Hogwarts students as well as villagers eager to shop. With a shiver, Kate then felt the icy grip of Merle's hand tighten over her arm, tugging her along into one of the streets

"_Will you hurry up_?" snapped Merle while her teeth chattered in the cold air, and Kate saw a circle of smoke emerge around Merle's mouth as she spoke. "I'm freezing my arse off!"

Kate forcibly tugged her arm out of Merle's grip to establish that she wasn't taking orders. She followed Merle to one particularly icy road, making it rather difficult to cross the street without tripping. While Merle ventured to cross said road, occasionally slipping on the ice with her boots, Kate rolled her eyes at how clueless Merle could be then pulled out her wand. With a simple melting spell, the ice from the road suddenly vanished, and Merle looked up at Kate.

"I would've thought of that," whined Merle to save face. "I, er... just forgot my wand in the dormitory."

"You're wand is right between your ear, _Merle_," said Kate spitefully. "Are you a compulsive liar or what?"

"Or what," answered Merle, frowning and grabbing Kate again so that they could move on. "I don't understand why Lily had to leave early without us, doesn't she know that we obviously can't be trusted to be left alone?"

"Oh thanks. That obviously restores my faith in our ability to be friends," Kate bit back, a little more harsher than she intended.

Merle was of course stung by these words, but unlike most often of times, Kate actually felt sorry.

"Oh, I see," said Merle. "So we aren't friends anymore, is that it?"

Kate disheartened at the idea, and then grabbed at Merle's hand to stop her from walking. She sighed, readying herself for an apology.

"You know I didn't mean it like that, Merle. I was just being a pain in the arse, like always."

Merle smiled at Kate in what felt like the first time in a long while.

"I know," she replied. "I know we're friends."

"Good," said Kate with relief. "I mean, I know we don't always act like we're friends, but we... Merle?" But Merle had already turned away in disinterest, walking toward a window shop and ruining the apology that Kate had been working up to. "Erm, hullo, this was our touching reconciliation moment?"

"There's Lily and Alice," explained Merle, waving at them through the shop window of Gladrags Wizardwear. "Looks like they got here earlier than us. Lets go."

They were thankful to enter the warm confines of the shop rather than having to face the blistering winds outside of Hogsmeade. They stared around at the shop, looking up at the different choices of Halloween costumes. Lily and Alice approached them with happy greetings.

"Bad news, Merle," said Alice. "I asked the shop boy, and he said that they had only one mermaid costume, but it was already purchased by someone else."

"Someone who?!" demanded Merle loudly, casting her glare around the shop as if the culprit would be found there.

"Do you really think they'd tell us?" reasoned Lily. "Just forget it, Merle. Look, there are so many other cool costumes in the shop. Want to see mine?"

Lily reached into a bag, apparently already haven purchased her costume, and yanked out an elegant white gown which had a large set of fake wings attached to it. Lily undoubtedly chose the prettiest outfit she could find.

"An angel, really?" asked Kate with raised eyebrows. "Lily, it's Halloween. As in the holiday with the purpose of dressing up to scare its young."

"Oh, only children do that. I want to be an angel, dammit!" Lily said with a rather cunning conviction that would suggest Lily was anything but an angel.

Alice then stepped up to the plate, holding out her own choice of costume. "As for me, I'm going as Raggedy Anne. And get this, Edgar is my date--he's going as Raggedy Andy, isn't that cute?"

"The cutest!" said Kate mockingly enthusiastic. "Now if you'll excuse, I have to go barf."

Kate began to turn for the exit, when Lily grabbed her to prevent her from doing so.

"I'm really doubting whether I should have come in the first place, not if you two are going to pick out the wrongest costumes imaginable."

"I know!" agreed Merle, also disapproving of Lily and Alice's choices. "Why would you do something so _boring_ when you can go as a cat woman!"

Merle had suddenly snatched a nearby outfight designed with black fur and fake cat ears. Kate, Alice and Lily groaned all at once.

"For the love of Circe, Merle, put that atrocious thing down!" begged Lily. "If you show up to Slughorn's party in_ that_, everyone will know you only chose it to receive attention from the opposite sex!"

"Exactly!" said Merle, undeterred. "A cat getting catcalls, get it?" She made a hissing noise to emphasize her point, baring her nails at them in the way a cat would.

"Right," said Lily. "Alice, try talking her out of it. I'm going to help Kate look for a costume. I have something to show her."

"What did you want to show me?" asked Kate curiously, as Lily guided her into the back of the shop.

Lily pointed out a row of medieval-styled dresses hanging on racks. Kate gaped, impressed at how authentic the dresses looked.

"I know," grinned Lily. "I remember how much you got into that kind of thing, what with your Arthurian phase you had in third year. So I thought you might want to go medieval for the party."

"Brilliant, Lily," said Kate while fingering the material of a silk red gown. "I wouldn't mind dressing up as Morgana, Arthur's sister."

"Wasn't she evil in the legends?"

"Exactly. Now if you were Morgana, which dress would you wear?"

"I dunno. You might want to ask the shop owner. Although, this one is labeled Queen Guinevere."

"I didn't like Guinevere too much. She was a bit of a two-faced dog for cheating on Arthur with Lancelot."

Lily stifled a laugh.

"But it is rather good looking," admitted Kate, staring at the particularly pretty lavender dress that was labeled Queen Guinevere. "I suppose I can go in this one and just tell people it's Morgana, they won't know the difference."

Kate pulled the dress hanger off the rack and looked at the price tag. She inwardly groaned, seeing how expensive it was. Then she placed it back on the rack.

"Then again, I haven't really given the other dresses a fair chance."

Sensing that it was in fact the price that was the problem, Lily picked up the lavender dress again. Lily only glanced at the tag and then approached the front counter.

"Lily, what are you doing?"

"The angel costume came cheap," said Lily, glancing back at Kate. "Consider this your birthday present."

"My birthday isn't until December."

"Can I help you, ma'am?" said the boy behind the counter.

"Yes, I'd like the purchase this dress," said Lily before Kate could put a stop to it.

* * *

"You bloody twat, you didn't have to do that!"

"Not the traditional thank you, but you are welcome," said Lily, handing the wrapped dress to Kate. "There's no way you're backing out of Slughorn's party now."

Kate realized that Lily was right. She would be wasting Lily's moment of charity if she just blew of Slughorn's Halloween party. As the girls trotted down the street of Hogsmeade, Kate wistfully glanced into the plastic bag, admiring the seams of the lavender dress. She then popped a kiss on Lily's cheek in appreciation.

The moment of sisterly love was suddenly ruined by a male's voice, who called out, "How cute--I hope you two don't break up any time soon."

Kate instantly recognized the sarcastic voice belonging to Sirius Black. The usual tug of annoyance that accompanied Black's presence returned to Kate, and she glanced over to see all four Marauders near a frozen fountain in the middle of the village. In the background, Kate could see James standing on top of the frozen ice of the water fountain and trying to convince Peter to join him like an ice rink. Remus was sitting down on the fountain ledge, torn between watching James and Peter trying to skate and Sirius, who was now approaching the group of girls.

"As long as it amuses you to see two girls kissing," said Lily, rolling her eyes. Kate could see that just by her voice, Lily had caused James to slightly slip on the ice.

Sirius smirked mischievously at the girls and used a finger to flick off some snowflakes off of Alice's shoulder, causing her to burn crimson. "You girls wouldn't be up to a snowball fight, now, would you?"

His gray eyes momentarily flickered toward Kate, and it suddenly became clear to her that the supposed snowball fight would only have the intention of getting Kate as frost bitten as possible.

"As amusing as that sounds," said Kate with an air of bitterness, "I'm afraid I grew out of snowball-fighting phase as early as ten, like most little children."

"I think you're just afraid of a bit of competition, Nolan," said Sirius.

He bent over and gathered snow together to form a white ball. The anxiousness eating at Kate's stomach didn't feel so assuring. Sirius smirked again, enjoying the nervousness in Kate's face.

"Lets go," said Kate to her friends, and all four began walking away.

That's when she was harshly hit in the back of the head by the snowball. The cold ball collided into her black hair, causing it to throb in pain and ice.

She spun around, her anger reaching a boiling point, and she whipped out her wand and pointed it at Sirius, who was laughing his arse off.

"_Vespertilio!_" she screeched, causing a flock of menacing bats to come pouring out of her wand.

Just as Sirius became alert and pulled out his own wand, Kate had already shouted, "_Oppugno_!"

As one, the bats all swooped down and attacked Sirius, causing her to screech in pain.

"Kate, you're a hag!" said Merle, clearly amazed by what Kate had done. "I love it!"

"We should go," said Lily, grabbing Kate and pulling her away from the scene. "Before someone like Filch comes along."

"But come on, though, that was bloody brilliant," said Merle. "You've got to give kudos to Kate for having the nasty temper that she does."

"That little skank deserved it," muttered Kate at the ground, still furious at having a cold bruise where Sirius had hit her with the snowball. "But I should have done something else, I shouldn't have hexed him. I could be reported."

"By who, the Marauders?" asked Alice. "They're the biggest troublemakers in the school, they wouldn't dare turn you in, else they face being accused as the biggest hypocrites the school ever had."

* * *

**AN**:_ Yay, Kate's first moment of blinding rage! It took me awhile to find a latin translation of "bats" for some reason, but I didn't want to use "Avis" because that's too similar to what Hermione did to Ron (:P). I wanted the friction between Kate and Sirius heat up a bit more before we did the Halloween bash (which I'm frightened of writing next, because a lot of drama ensues there!). Review and tell me if you like it or hate it._


	5. Chapter 5

**AN**: _Alright, I admit it. The chapter premise is stolen from an episode of Buffy. If you're a Buffy fan you should be able to catch which one it is. I also stole a lot of dialogue from knight movies (A Knight's Tale, First Knight) but you won't see that until later. Oh and Lily's costume is kind of from Romeo + Juliet (1996). _

_So wow, there's a lot of plagiarism going on here. I really only own the OC characters. :)_

_This chapter was a bit difficult to write, mostly because of the SHIPPING GALOR that goes on here. This chapter sort of follows James and Lily around for a change, I thought it would be appropriate since they keep their heads for the most part during the chapter. _

* * *

Chapter 5

* * *

"Who are you supposed to be?"

As Sirius emerged from the Gryffindor boys' bathroom, he sent James a look that said 'Isn't it obvious?'. Sirius reached into the belt that came with his costume and pulled out a real life sword, holding it victoriously in the air.

"_A_ _knight!_ Of course."

The knight costume then became more obvious to James, as he noticed the chain chest was supposed to be Sirius' protective shirt.

"You're bringing a real sword?" Remus asked apprehensively from his seat on the bed. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Lighten up, Moony, it's not as if I'd stab anyone. What, are you afraid that Nolan is going to swoop down on me and work up a storm?"

James, who stood up from his own bed to change in the bathroom, said, "She did last time, remember? With the bats?"

Peter fell into a fit of laughter, clearly still amused by the memory of the incident in Hogsmeade. He immediately stopped, though, when Sirius sent him a death glare and said, "Shut up, Wormtail... Anyway, why aren't you dressed yet? I need a steed, right?"

Peter reddened, but he didn't have the guts to fight back. Instead he shrugged and quietly said, "I changed my mind. I'm not going as a steed."

"Then what are you going as?" said Sirius crossly.

Peter didn't want to answer, so Remus took up the opportunity and, grabbing Peter's black costume from the bed hanger, struck a pose and shouted, "Batman!" Peter laughed loudy in appreciation.

"You're kidding!" said Sirius, rounding on Peter once more. "You're going as a Muggle superhero? Are you daft? No one will know who you are! You'd might as well change back now into the steed, so you don't regret - "

"Lay off, will you?" defended Remus. "Anyway, it's about time Wormy -"

"_MOONY!_ What ARE YOU _DOING?_" exclaimed Sirius melodramatically.

Remus froze while facing the mirror complexion in the dorm. The only thing that was really out of the ordinary about this scene was that Remus happened to be holding a case of open lipstick and applying it to his bottom lip. Peter's mouth fell open in shock when he saw that Sirius was pointing at the tube of lipstick. James suddenly burst into the room, dressed as a vampire, and he wildly looked around to find what was so wrong that Sirius had to yell.

"What's wrong?" I - "

James froze, his eyes widening at the lipstick that was pressed against Remus's lips. Then, suddenly leaping forward as though compelled to take action, James cried, "JUDO CHOP!" and hit the arm that was holding the lipstick to Remus's face.

"OW!" screamed Remus, rubbing the spot where James had hit him. "What the hell is your problem?"

"LIP GLOSS, Moony?!" said James, picking up the tube of lipstick. "Just what in the hell were you doing with this? And where's your costume?"

"That IS my costume, you twit!" said Remus, snatching the lipstick out of James's hand. "I'm going as a woman! See, look."

Remus picked up the wand lying on his dresser, and with three flicks, his clothing and robes suddenly transfigured so that he was wearing a dress and heals which conveniently fit him. James and Peter gaped, impressed at the complicated bit of magic their friend had just pulled off. Sirius burst into a large fit of laughter, and not just at the ridiculousness of Remus's appearance.

"You, my friend, are a true Gryffindor," laughed Sirius heartily. "To go in _that_. You'll be laughed out the school. Everyone'll make fun of you!"

"That's preschool, Sirius," said Remus as be began applying the lip gloss to his lip again. "And this is Hogwarts."

"It is actually rather brilliant," said James with a grin. "You know, cos it's Halloween and women really are scary."

"Oh please," sighed Sirius, rolling his eyes. "What has Evans done to you lately? Tell you your head looks fat?"

"No, she hurled a batch of bats at me," James said to remind Sirius of what Kate had done.

"Har har," said Sirius moodily. "But I'd appreciate it, _Prongs_, if you stopped comparing your and Evans' situation with mine and Nolan's, seeing as I'm not madly in love with her."

"I wouldn't be surprised," said Remus, who was now applying mascara rather clumsily. "I mean, if Nolan just batted an eyelash at you I'm sure you'd fall for her in an instant. You only don't like her because she treats you with disdain."

Sirius looked caught for a moment, staring all around at his friends for some sort of back up. "What is this?" he asked, sounding truly offended. "Gang up on Padfoot night?"

"I'm with you, Paddy!" said Peter, jumping at the opportunity to gain Sirius's appreciation again.

"Thank you!" said Sirius, though he was cringing at the fact that Peter had called him "Paddy". "And nice costume by the way," added Sirius, grinning at Peter who was now fully dressed in the Batman suit. "Very heroic."

"Thanks. Are we ready to go?"

"Right," said James, staring in the mirror. "You don't think that Lily will be freaked out by this spot of blood?" he asked self consciously, wiping at the fake blood that was dripping down from his mouth. "She'll know it's fake, of course, but - "

Already growing impatient of James's fretfulness, Sirius growled, "Lets go!" and grabbed James on the way out of the boys' dormitory. All four Marauders headed for downstairs.

The four made it to the marble staircase, walking up toward Slughorn's office. As Remus explained, Slughorn's office had been magically enlarged for the purpose of the party gathering. The ceiling and walls were draped with black, purple and orange hangings to commemorate the traditional Halloween colors, and at the top of the ceiling there was an ornate chandelier with fairies fluttering around it.

"Ah!" boomed Professor Slughorn, beckoning the four boys inside. "So glad that the infamous Marauders could make it to my party!"

"Nice costume, Professor," grinned James appreciatively, and the rest of his friends bit back laughter at Slughorn's appearance: Slughorn was dressed as Headmaster Dumbledore, complete with the fake long beard, half-moon spectacles, and sweeping purple robes with stars decorating it.

"Yes, I thought Albus might be an interesting choice for tonight," said Slughorn with a sly smile. "Though not my preferable choice of attire." He looked down at the purple robes again, looking rather embarrassed. "Ah well. Welcome inside, Mister Potter! Say, you wouldn't be interested in meeting Perpetua Fancourt, would you? She's the inventor of the lunascope, m'boy!"

James politely declined and joined Sirius at the punchbowl table. Remus and Peter had already disappeared into the crowd; Remus had joined a group of Ravenclaw girls who wanted to compliment him on being so gutsy so as to attend the party in women's clothing; and Peter was angrily confronting a third year Hufflepuff who had also shown up in a Batman costume. Sirius had apparently underestimated how well known the superhero Batman would be.

James then heard Kate's voice behind him and, thinking that Lily would be nearby wherever Kate was, he spun around and saw Kate pouring a glass of punch at the punchbowl. Lily was nowhere in sight, but it didn't matter to James, who was momentarily taken aback at how good Kate looked.

"Wow, Nolan," he blurted out, causing Sirius to turn his head sharply toward Kate as well.

Kate was dressed in a very pretty lavender, medieval-looking gown that reached all the way to the floor. Her black hair was pulled up in a braid and held by an ornate glass butterfly clip, and the makeup she was wearing made her look extremely pale, like a person you would see out of an ancient painting, but nonetheless pretty.

James glanced at Sirius to confirm that he wasn't the only one alone in thinking she was pretty, but as expected Sirius quickly hide any kind of notion of being impressed and scowled at Kate.

"Thanks," said Kate unsurely. "I've been getting a lot of that tonight." She looked more uncomfortable than flattered at being stared at. She then moved her attention toward the boys, eying their respective costumes.

"A knight?" she directed at Sirius with skepticism. "You came as a knight?_ How fitting,_" she said in her usual sarcastic tone.

"What's wrong with it?" Sirius loudly demanded to know.

"Didn't you get the memo? Chivalry is dead. At least in your case, it is."

Sirius snorted. "Yeah," he countered, "and you killed it."

Kate glared at Sirius, her sharp blue eyes narrowed at her venomously. "Oh, excuse me for adopting the feminist views of the century."

James sighed, sick of hearing them argue already. He glanced around at the party, in search of the redhead his eyes always seemed to be seeking out. The bickering between Sirius and Kate became a mere background noise.

"You're a filthy hypocrite," he vaguely heard Sirius say. "Coming in _that_. What are you, Lady Damsel in Distress, waiting for some bloke to make you barefoot and pregnant?"

_There she is_, thought James, seeing her merrily chatting with Alice Scott. She was dressed in white with a glowing halo hanging over her head. James sighed in appreciation.

"I happen to be dressed as Morgana, the very empowered sorceress who didn't need an rescuing, because her magic was so advanced that she could bewitch and shapeshift into anything - "

"Ha! You have no idea - "

James suddenly snapped out of his daze and stuffed a muffin into Sirius's face. He hated it whenever Sirius acted so cavalier about their little secret when it came to shapeshifting.

"Nolan, have some punch!" said James forcibly, and without thinking he tipped the cup so that the punch would slide down Kate's throat.

She choked on the suddenness of James's action, spitting out some of the punch. She swallowed the rest of it down the best she could.

"What the hell is the matter with you, Potter?" Kate yelled once she regained her breath.

"Yeah Prongs, stop attacking people!" said Sirius mock accusingly, hoping to make a scene.

"Will you shut up?" muttered James.

"Who is attacking who?" said Lily, who had just joined the circle around the punchbowl. When no one answered her, she smiled down at Kate's dress, obviously envious, then asked Sirius and James, "Doesn't Kate look lovely in that dress?"

"Yeah, but you look lovelier," said James stiffly. He didn't feel too comfortable telling Lily how pretty she looked when he himself looked ridiculous, wearing fake fangs and a sweeping black cape. When he was in Gladrags Wizardwear, the vampire costume seemed to be a good idea at the time.

Lily frowned at James, looking slightly offended at what he had said. "Nice," she said, then spun around to join another crowd of party-goers.

Kate suddenly laughed at James's confused expression. What had he done to Lily now?

"Way to go, Potter!" Kate said, still laughing. "In complimenting Lily you've managed to simultaneously insult her best friend."

"What - no!" said James desperately. "I didn't mean it like that! Nolan, tell her I didn't mean it like that, tell her I think you look brilliant!"

"Fine," said Kate, turning away with her glass of punch. "By the way, Potter, your fangs are crooked."

* * *

"Excuse me, everyone!" Slughorn yellow over the cheery crowd. He stood up over the others and began tapping his glass of punch. "I have an announcement to make! And I'm afraid it's not good."

"The party isn't over already, is it professor?"

"Not exactly," said Slughorn. "I believe that someone may have poisoned the punch as a prank."

Gasps erupted from the crowd.

"Now, now, it isn't lethal or permanment. And the culprit who mixed the potion in with the punch has already been caught and reprimanded. However I must warn those of you who have sipped the punch - you may feel a little change from the potion - "

"What potion?" asked a party-goer apprehensively.

"A rather brilliant concoction," continued Slughorn, smiling coyly at his guests. "It happens to transform its drinker, to make them believe they are their costume's persona."

Kate dropped her glass of punch and wildly looked around the room for an escape route. She couldn't believe that someone would spike the punch as a prank, and trick them to change into the costume personas. She had to get out of here, before she turned into Morgana, who was undoubtedly evil and would most likely harm other guests.

Some other participants reacted in a similar way to Kate, panicked at the prospect of being turned into a flower or a mummy. Other students were thrilled and helped themselves to more punch. Most of them just stuck around to see what what happen to the room. No one was dressed in a very dangerous outfit so there couldn't be much harm in store for the evening.

"I believe some of the effects are beginning to kick in," announced Slughorn. He was staring at Frank Longbottom, who in a phantom-like suit, was mysteriously backing out of the room to disappear behind a curtain. "Mister Longbottom already seems to be under the impression that he is the Phantom of the Opera."

"Oh, Circe, Circe, Circe, Circe, Circe," muttered Kate worriedly, now shoving her way through the crowd toward the door.

She was already feeling the effects of the potions warming up inside her; for some odd reason, her feet started to feel like they were the most gracious pair of feet to have ever walking the earth, and the same feeling worked up to her legs, through her stomach, then to her head.

She stopped in her path toward the door, then stared around.

Then, "Where is my Arthur? God save me, where am I?"

She spun around on the spot, looking for a familiar face, anybody who would be of service to her. Many strange faces surrounded her, some of them seemed to be just as confused as she was.

Then she saw _him_, back against the wall, dressed in his knight attire.

"Sir Lancelot!" she yelped, and ran up toward him. She grabbed him by the arm in relief and smiled. "Thank goodness I've found you!"

"What the ruddy hell?" asked Sirius, taken aback that Kate would simply run up to him and grab his arm that way. "Let go of me!" he snapped, trying to pull his arm away.

"She's under the potion, you idiot!" James muttered to Sirius. Suddenly James looked very nauseous as he stared out at the crowd. "I think I'm starting to feel the effects to."

"My Lord," Kate said to Sirius in a surprisingly friendly way. "Do you have the foggiest where the king is? Or where I am, for that matter?"

Confused and unused to being addressed like this by Kate Nolan of all people, Sirius looked to James for help. "What am I supposed to do here?"

"I don't know," said James in a very heavy voice, looking as though he might fall asleep right there on the floor. "You might as well play along... give in to the temptation," he said slowly, and by now Sirius wasn't even sure whether James was talking about the situation with Kate. "Eventually, it'll take over, inch by inch until you feel completely overpowered. May I see your hand?"

Giving James a strange look, Sirius nevertheless held out his hand at his friend's request. James gratefully took Sirius's arm and roughly bit into it, causing Sirius to yell in pain.

"OW!" he shouted, yanking his bleeding hand away. "_You bit me!_"

"Oh!" said Kate, just as offended by James's action. "Away with you, you beastly fiend! Before I have you banished from my sight!"

James shook his head in sorry. "Sorry, mate, I didn't mean it. The potion... But since you're bleeding anyway, could I have just a small sip - "

"Get away from me!" said Sirius at the hungry look James was giving him. "And Nolan - let go of me, dammit!" he said, roughly yanking away the bleeding hand which Kate had softly taken in her grasp to pet.

"It'll eventually happen to you too, seeing as you've had some punch," said James distractedly, eying the neck of Merle Lucas, who was now crawling on the floor and purring up against James's leg.

Before Sirius could curse at the thought of transforming into a knight, he found Kate once again glaring at him with angry blue eyes. For a moment, he was relieved that Kate had snapped out of it, back to herself, but then when Kate spoke he saw that she was still acting weird.

"How dare you!" she hissed. "You act as though I shant be your queen! I should have you beheaded for your insolence, Lancelot! But I won't, because you are Arthur's most beloved knight!"

Starting to become freaked out at how convinced Kate was, Sirius snorted and started walking away, saying, "Yeah, you do that."

Then, it suddenly and fiercely hit him like a train, and he felt incredibly stupid and vain for having insulted his beautiful queen Guinevere. He turned around and softly reached for Kate's hand.

"My lady, I apologize immensely for the great offense that I have caused you. Please forgive me." Sirius softly kissed Kate's knuckles and waited for a response.

"Oh God," said Lily, who was witnessing the interaction. "What's gotten into them?" She glanced around, looking for someone who had any sense in this place.

Then she saw James Potter, backed into a corner, staring at everyone with scared eyes. She had might as well try him, if not anybody else.

"Potter, do you know what's going on between Kate and Sirius - " she began, but James put out a hand as if to say 'don't come any closer'.

"I wouldn't get too near me, Evans," said James. "I think I've turned into a vampire. I mean, I know it's fake, but it just feels so real! I might try and bite you!"

"Same here," said Lily. "For a few minutes, it felt like I had suddenly dropped dead and then descended toward heaven. And now I've floated back down and I feel so... heavenly. It's weird." But Lily smiled in a way that made James wish he could suck the flesh out of her skin. "I feel really lucky though," said Lily. "Compared to everyone else. Frank Longbottom is singing in opera voice to Christine Barton, and the last I saw of Pettigrew, he had whipped his cape and said something about there still being evil afoot."

"It is rather amusing," agreed James, while smirking at a seventh year, who in her Dorothy outfight, was singing "_I'm off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of oz_".

"But did you see Kate and Sirius?" asked Lily, remembering her original intention of approaching. "They - hey! Where'd they go?" She stared around at the now-rampant party.

"Last I saw, they left the party," said a feminine voice.

"Remus!" said Lily, biting back laughter. "You - you're a girl!"

"Why is everyone so surprised by that?" Remus said, rather offended. "Can't a girl just - be herself! You of all people should understand that, Lily!"

"Sorry, Remus, I didn't mean it!" said Lily, though unable to hide her broad grin. James also laughed.

"I'm sorry, I just need some alone time," Remus sniffed, and exited the party, no doubt to cry about something else.

"Well, thats not fair, though!" Lily suddenly pouted at Remus's retreating figure. "Girls aren't overly emotional like that!"

James raised his eyebrows but chose to stay silent.

"Anyway, I think we should go find Sirius and Kate, see where they've slunk off to."

"What about your other friends?"

"They'll be fine," said Lily, out of the corner of her eye she saw Merle jump up onto the couch to take a nap.

She fought back another laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation.

* * *

"Potter, what _are_ you doing?" said Lily, stopping in the middle of the deserted corridor.

During their stroll, James had all the sudden bitten into his pinky finger and was now holding the bleeding finger over his tongue.

"Stop that! That's disgusting!" said Lily, yanking away James's arm.

"I can't help it!" said James desperately. "I'm a vampire, remember? It's difficult enough being in _your _presence, what with blood rushing to your face every few minutes with those blushes you have! Do you know how much resistance this takes?"

Lily blushed crimson.

"Stop it!" yelped James.

She backed into a darker-lit part of the corridor so that James couldn't see her blush. He then settled for lightly sucking the blood from his finger. She scoffed in disgust.

"Stop that," said Lily, and she pulled James's arm down so that he couldn't suck on his pinky.

Then a victorious look overcome James, and he suddenly grinned at her. She secretly felt relieved, and happy to have the old grinning Marauder back. But she had to know why he was grinning.

"What are you smirking at?" she said in the voice she was used to giving James.

"Is Lily Evans worried for me?"

"Huh?"

"You wouldn't have pulled my arm away unless you were worried for my well-being, Evans."

Lily sighed, annoyed that James even felt the urge to be smug about it by pointing it out.

"Why do you have to be such a git?"

* * *

**AN:**_  
_

_Not really a Twilight-er, but I figured there'd be some Twilight fan who reads this so I made James a vampire! More plagiarism, yay! And it was incredibly fun! Very hard chapter that I labored through, but I really enjoyed the finishing product. Sorry I couldn't get all of the costumes and their effects on the students, I had to stick with the main characters. _

_Next episode, find out what happens to Sirius and Kate. It's been real, yo!_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

* * *

_The next morning. Gryffindor boys dormitory._

Kate stirred. Then stirred again.

She kept trying to fall back asleep, and was half succeeding, if it wasn't for Lily incessantly saying "Otter!" every few minutes in the background.

It definitely became difficult to fall asleep when she heard a male's voice added into the conversation.

"Really, Evans, think about it. Our children would be perfection. They'd have your brains and beauty, then they'd have my brilliant Quidditch skills and charm. That's a lethal combination of astronomical proportions."

In her very sleepy state of mind, Kate couldn't help but agree, and wondered why Lily just didn't give in and have babies with the male recipient of this conversation.

"You do know what astronomical means?"

"Yes, otter, I'm not an idiot."

Then again, Lily shouldn't mate with otters, that seems rather unhealthy.

Eventually, Kate ended up flipping over in the bed and smacking the person lying next to her with her elbow. Thats when she started to awake, feeling that something wasn't quite right.

Sirius, who lied next to her, was very used to this treatment: he had spent many mornings ignoring his mother, who made it a habit of waking up Sirius with a good smack in the head.

Sirius' only response was to mumble into his pillow, "Lemme alone, Mum."

At that, Kate's eyes shot open in shock. "I'm not your mother," she said simply.

"Merlin's shorts, they're awake," she heard Lily whisper.

"Merlin's shorts?" repeated James.

Kate slowly turned her head to confirm whether her worst fears were true: for a moment of pure shock and silence, her eyes met with a pair of gray ones.

With a horrifying jolt, Kate realized that she was in Sirius Black's bed, abnormally up close to his personal space.

Kate let out a strangled scream, rolling off the side of the bed in the process. Sirius rubbed his eyes, unsure of whether or not what he just saw was real. Kate Nolan couldn't possibly have just fallen off his bed, because then that would have meant that she had to have been _in_ the bed.

And then, like some kind of dreaded hangover, all of last nights' memories came flooding back to Sirius' head. She had been Queen Guinevere and he had been Sir Lancelot. Last night they had in effect reenacted the affair that had occurred between the two characters from the legends.

They had _snogged_.

Kate shot up from the floor, and with surprisingly fast speed, darted toward the nearest door. Which happened to be a closet.

Nobody felt like telling Kate it was a closet, in fact no one felt like speaking at all.

Except for Sirius, of course.

"Sodding hell."

From where James and Lily stood, they could see Sirius internally panicking. His eyes were wide and he was panting heavily like a canine.

"Sodding bloody Christ hell."

"Careful, Padfoot," said James in a mock motherly way, hoping to get a laugh out of his friend. "That was a lot of swears packed into one."

But James had greatly underestimated how many swears Sirius could pack into one sentence, because the next thing that came out of Sirius's mouth was so shockingly long and offensive that it caused Lily to gasp.

"Easy mate, we've got a lady present!" said James, trying to hide his own offense.

Sirius suddenly and angrily turned on James, "You traitorous bastard!"

"I beg your pardon?"

"You let her! You let Nolan do - all that stuff to me!"

"You mean I let her snog you?" asked James very slowly, wondering whether Sirius realized how ridiculous the question sounded.

"_ARGH!_" Sirius growled in frustration, clutching his head at the memory of him and Kate kissing.

In the background they could hear Peter just waking with a start because of Sirius's yell, groggily asking, "Whatsgonon?"

"Way to go, Potter," snapped Lily, also turning on James. "You've succeeded in making it worse for him! Now if you don't mind, I'm going to finish what I originally came here for."

She went over to the closet and lightly knocked onto the door. James wanted to say something to Lily to make her forgive him, but he was torn, as Sirius had now taken to angrily pacing the dorm, looking as though he were working up a storm. He was also making a good use of many swear words, some of which James had never even heard of.

"Kate?" asked Lily over Sirius's cursing. "Kate? Could you please come out?"

She heard a distinct "No" from the other side.

"Please, Kate? You have to come out. You can't stay cooped up in there forever!"

"Yes I can," came her firm reply. "It's all your fault anyway."

"What?" said Lily, sounding as though she were about to cry. "How is it my fault?"

"You didn't do anything!" said Kate, equally as emotional. "You and Potter just sat there, having a laugh at us! And how is it that I ended up in HIS bed, huh?"

"Believe me, we tried, Kate!" said Lily angrily, trying to ignore the eating feeling of guilt inside her. "We tried separating you two, but _Sir Lancelot_ wouldn't have it; he said he couldn't bare leaving you out of his sight!"

"Leave me alone, Lily!"

"You have to come out! You have-things to do!"

Lily silently cursed to herself. The truth was, today was a Saturday, so there really wasn't much to do for Kate. Other than homework.

"What about your prefect duties this weekend?" reminded Lily.

"Sod it!" cried Kate, surprising Lily.

"I agree, sod it!" said a new voice, and Remus, still dressed like a drag queen, stormed into the room. He collapsed onto his bed with an air of bitterness about it.

"Moony!" said James. "Where have you been?"

"I fell asleep in the girls' dormitory, thinking thats where I belonged!" said Remus with an edge. "And don't ask me how I got past the girls staircase - I don't know why!"

"Is something wrong, Remus?" asked Lily. "You seem on edge."

"Do I?" said Remus in the same irritated tone.

Very abruptly, Remus grabbed the bottom of the dress and roughly dragged it off. With a resounding smack on the floor, he threw the dress down rather spitefully.

"That piece of rag has caused me nothing but dread and humiliation!" yelled Remus, pointing at the dress now sitting on the floor. "Now where are my robes?!" he said, glancing around so that he didn't have to sit there in boxers.

"You can't, Kate's locked herself in your closet," said Lily dully.

Remus finally calmed down enough to turn genuinely confused, and said, "Kate - what? Excuse me?"

"She locked herself in our closet out of shame and embarrassment!" said James, already very angry at what a shitty morning he was having.

"Why, was the closet in the girls dorm already taken?" asked Remus wryly.

"JUST DON'T ASK!" Sirius suddenly shouted, causing Remus to jump.

Remus watched as Sirius stormed out of the dorm, probably to get away from the room full of reminders of what he had done last night.

"Right," said Lily. "I'm going to try a few spells. Hopefully she doesn't have her own wand with her so she doesn't try any locking spells -"

"Too late," she heard Kate quietly say on the other side. Lily groaned.

* * *

As expected "Alohomora" didn't work, so Lily attempted a few other spells on the door. But to her surprise, none of them worked. Kate must have put up a really powerfully blocking mechanism, one so powerful that not even Lily could penetrate it.

Lily was sure she wouldn't be able to talk Kate out of the closet, and she didn't want to either else she suffered from more guilt trips. But she didn't know what else to do if magic couldn't solve the problem.

James walked in, recently returned from the Great Hall, and he tossed Lily a warm muffin which she caught. "I thought you might be hungry."

"Where are your friends?" asked Lily.

"Those traitors are downstairs in the common room," said James sorely. "All three of them had made me be the one to go to the Great Hall in my trousers because they were all too cowardly to grab breakfast themselves."

Lily stifled a laugh.

"How's it coming?"

"She's still being INCREDIBLY STUBBORN ABOUT IT!" shouted Lily, hoping it would get a rise out of Kate, but the other side remained silent. "I don't know what to do. I'm thinking of just blasting open the door, but it might hurt Kate. And anyway, I don't know why I'm going through so much trouble, when she obviously doesn't want to come out. I think she's right, it's really my fault."

"No," started James as though about to comfort her, but then he paused to consider it. Then he nodded, "No, yeah, it's pretty much all your fault."

Lily gaped at him.

"Well, come on, Lily! You were the one last night who was all gung-ho about spying on them!"

"But I wasn't, you know, _encouraging_ it to happen!"

"You mean to say you were only enabling it to happen."

"Yes... I mean no! Shut up, Potter!" she said when he started laughing. "You're no help."

"You're only pissed because I'm not blatantly kissing your arse," he said, and took a large bite out of a muffin.

"Bugger off," muttered Lily, sighing at how difficult James could be.

Before Lily could come up with a proper comeback, though, Kate's annoyed voice drifted in through the other side: "Will you two take your little lover's spat elsewhere? I'm trying to sulk in peace here!"

* * *

Remus stared at Sirius, amazed at how long Sirius would be able to glare at a fireplace that had no fire blazing in it.

"Padfoot? You do realize that there's no - oh, forget it."

"This is embarrassing!" said Peter, hugging his arms around himself next to Remus. "Look at all the stares we're receiving."

Remus didn't so much mind that a few girls were giggling at the fact that Remus, Peter and Sirius were sat in their boxers on the couch. He'd been through a lot worse last night.

"Grow up, Wormtail," said Remus. "There's a lot worst matters at hand."

"Like what?"

"Like the fact that Sirius is traumatized beyond words about what happened to him last night."

"What happened - oh right!" said Peter, suddenly breaking out into a grin. "He fell in love with Nolan, didn't he?"

Sirius turned blazing gray eyes on Peter, causing him to slowly back away.

"He didn't fall in love with her - Sir Lancelot did," explained Remus, a small smile on his face. "Come on, Padfoot. It's not a huge deal, really. It was only like being under a love potion, it wasn't real, you know that."

"But still," grumbled Sirius. "I'll never live this down. Imagine having a passionate night of snogging and, well, snogging, and actually _enjoying_ it, only to find out that it was with the least desirable person imaginable."

"You enjoyed it?"

"No!" said Sirius, already regretting what he had admitted to. "No, I'm saying that HE enjoyed it! And so it's not real! And so shut up," he added lamely when Remus and Peter laugh at his expense.

"You don't have anything to worry for. Everything will only change if you make it that way. I'm sure that if you just acted the same as before, Nolan would be happy to revert back to that way as well."

"I hope you're right. I shudder at the thought of what would happen if me and Nolan _didn't_ revert back to normal."

* * *

_8 o'clock PM_.

Sirius was able to enter the dorm unnoticed. When he got inside, he was disgusted to learn that James and Lily had given up trying to convince Kate to come out of their cupboard and were currently slumped against the wall, fallen asleep.

"Quitters," mumbled Sirius, watching as Lily's had lied atop James's shoulder. Sirius reached inside his dresser drawer and pulled out the Marauder's Map. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

He waited for the map to begin showing signs of moving dots before he looked down upon it. He then flipped it open to the Gryffindor boys dormitory and saw himself standing near the dresser, James and Lily's dots against the wall, and of course, Kate Nolan's dot still sitting within the cupboard.

Sirius didn't understand how a person would be able to last as long as she did, just sitting in a dark room with nothing but time to pass. He supposed that she spent much of that time silently crying at how horrifying last night had been.

Sirius silently growled to himself. He dreaded what had happened as much as Kate, but he thought she was reacting way out of line. _He_ didn't lock himself into a ruddy closet.

Sirius walked over to the closet door and leaned against the wall next to it, so that he would still be able to talk, but nothing above a yell so as not to wake James or Lily.

"Nolan," Sirius said, and waited for a response. "I know you're in there, you little liar. Why are you out yet?"

"Go away."

"Come on, Nolan. Just come out of the cupboard. The game is up."

"What makes you think that I'll come out just for you? You've done nothing but make my life miserable."

He sighed at how dramatic Kate could be, accusing him of making her entire life miserable, when he was sure that he only made a very small portion of it unhappy.

"We've been walking around in our boxers all day," whined Sirius, hoping to draw some sympathy out of Kate. "You've been in here all day! Come on, aren't you hungry?"

"Nope," she said, and Sirius heard a ruffle of noise inside. "I managed to find a box of chocolates in here."

Sirius swore. Those were _his_. He could hear Kate helping herself to the assortment of chocolates. He gazed down at the Marauder's Map, at Kate's name, and childishly hoped that the power of his stare would cause Kate to simply walk out. No such thing happened, as her dot remained firmly rooted to her spot in the cupboard.

Then he had an idea.

"Fine," said Sirius, feigning anger. "Be a little baby about it, then, Nolan."

He stood up and pretended to walk out of the room making his footsteps much louder than they needed to be. He then waited, and to his relief, Kate had bought it.

After a pause of silence, the door had opened. Only, Sirius couldn't see anybody in the doorway. He wondered whether Kate was just hiding behind a coat hanger like some silly child, but he quickly shook the notion. Kate wouldn't be that ridiculous.

Sirius glanced down at the Marauder's Map once again and saw that Kate's dot not even inside the closet anymore, but moving quickly through the dormitory and out the entryway.

"Dammit!" Sirius yelled, realizing the Kate had taken the Invisibility Cloak from the closet to escape the room undetected.

Sirius darted back toward the closet in order for him to hurriedly pull on a pair of clean robes. If he was going to go after Kate, it wouldn't be in his boxers.

However, on his way out, Sirius clumsily tripped in his haste, nearly slipping down the staircase in the process. When he reached the common room, he glanced down at the map to see how far she had gone. Kate was already outside the common room, bounding down some corridor.

Sirius swore again.

"What's got your wand in a knot?" asked Remus waiting in the common room.

"Nolan stole our cloak," said Sirius shortly, then rushed out of the Fat Lady's portrait and down the same corridor he saw Kate in. He saw Kate's dot moving into the boys bathroom, and snorted. Of all the hideouts to chose from, Kate chose the boys lavatory?

He stopped outside the bathroom to catch his breath, then when he entered he pulled out his wand and silently waited. From the map he could tell that Kate was just standing near the sink, frozen in action.

"_Homenum revelio_," said Sirius, pointing his wand at the sink. A gust of wind shot out and the Invisibility Cloak blew off Kate.

She glared at Sirius, caught. Then she demanded to know, "How did you find me?"

"I have my ways," said Sirius, pocketing the Marauder's Map into his robe.

"I hate you," she said simply, and faced the sink in frustration so that she wouldn't have to look at Sirius. The embarrassment of last night clear still lingered in her memory.

"_What_ are you wearing?" asked Sirius skeptically, noticing for the first time that Kate was no longer wearing the dress from last night, but instead sporting a boy's t-shirt and jeans. "That's Remus's shirt. And Peter's jeans."

"Well I had to change out of that cursed dress, didn't I?"

"The boy look doesn't suit you well."

"Like I care what you think."

"Right, because I've made your life miserable," repeated Sirius, sounding bitter. "Just hand over the cloak and I'll leave you alone."

Kate hesitated, as though she had grand plans stored of turning the cloak in to the headmaster for a reward. Eventually, though, she realized that Sirius wouldn't let her leave without the cloak, so she bent over and bundled it to toss over to Sirius.

After Sirius caught it, he remained glued to the spot, staring at Kate, unsure of what he was waiting for her to do. Sensing his odd gaze, she finally snapped, "What do you want? I thought you said you'd leave me alone."

Sirius shrugged, silently admitting that she was right, he had promised to leave her alone. He awkwardly shrugged again, feeling like an utter buffoon, then finally exited the bathroom without another word. While working down the Hogwarts corridor, he pulled out the Marauder's Map one last time out of curiosity.

Kate's dot lingered in the boys lavatory for a little longer, before finally leave. It looked as though she were headed for the kitchens. Sirius didn't blame her, all she has had to eat was his chocolates.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN:** Just as a warning, this story is turning rather omnipotent, it kind of jumps from character POV to whoever has the most convenient thought process for the plot :P

By the way, this takes place about a week or so after the Halloween incident, so the wounds are not all that fresh but are still kinda there. Here Kate and Sirius are just pretending it didn't happen, but obviously it'll come back to haunt them later in later chapters.

* * *

Chapter 8

* * *

James precariously laid down on the hospital wing bed, careful not to stress any of the injuries currently pulsing through his body. _Maybe it wasn't such a good idea_, he thought to himself. Then he glanced around the hospital, in search of a certain redhead.

"Run this by me again, Prongs," said Sirius's voice, and James sighed in annoyance. "_Why _did you intentionally fly yourself and your broomstick into a tree again?"

"I already told you," muttered James, "because I heard Lily was in here for some reason, and I needed an excuse to be here as well, didn't I?"

His hazel eyes roved over the wing, still searching for Lily. It occurred to James that Lily could possibly be hiding behind one of the bed curtains just to avoid the likes of James.

Finally, James noticed Sirius's disbelieving stare. Sirius had been staring at James as though he had happened to have the biggest idiot for a best friend in the whole world.

"Don't give me that," James snapped. "I really wanted to check on Evans, make sure she was alright-"

"Interesting," cut in a female's voice.

Black hair, blue eyes and her usual deadpan expression accompanying, Kate strode up to James's bed.

"Your attempts at getting close to Lily really are getting more and more desperate as time goes on. Running into trees to intentionally hurt yourself for a pity vote? For shame."

As though Sirius had already grown exhausted at the sight of Kate, he barked, "Are you stalking me now, Nolan? Because I swear you're there at every corner I turn."

"Yes, because that's exactly the kind of thing I'd do, stalk Sirius Black. That would be right after my sessions of falling in love with You-Know-Who and creating shrines to him."

Sirius smirked. "I knew deep down inside that you were a dark one."

Kate eyed James, who was stiffly lying in the bed and occasionally wincing at the pains he felt in his arms and chest. She almost looked sympathetic, but more piteous that James would be so foolhardy as to fly into a tree for Lily.

"She's here, by the way," said Kate as though trying to mend James's writhing. "But you won't talk to her - she somehow managed to fall asleep in one of wing's beds while waiting for Pomfrey. Which I really can't comprehend, seeing as how these hospital beds are unbearably stiff to sit on, let alone fall asleep in."

"You're telling me," muttered James, shifting uncomfortably in his own hospital bed. "So you came to visit her? What's she doing here anyway? I heard she was hexed by some Slytherin for mocking him about Voldemort."

Kate tried to hide the visible flinch that had overcome her. She knew the Marauders were pretty much fearless in the face of danger, so it didn't surprise her that they would dare say Lord Voldemort's name aloud, even though it was widely discouraged by the wizarding world.

After seeing her flinch, Sirius opened his mouth as though about to reprimand her for being so cowardly, but she spoke before he could.

"You heard right, Potter. Lily got a really hasty hex by that Slytherin Mulciber. He managed to carve the word 'Mudblood' on her forehead. Such a pleasant boy, really."

Anger overcome both James and Sirius. Of course James was the first to implode, yelling, "I'm going to kill Mulciber!"

Kate sighed. She didn't really feel like telling James that he would do no such thing, seeing as she partially felt that Mulciber deserved some kind of punishment for what he had done to Lily. Still, she had to keep up appearances.

"I hope you mean you'll slaughter him on the Quidditch pitch, and _not_ anywhere in the corridors," she said exhaustedly. "I'd rather like to think I take my job as prefect seriously - " she threw Sirius a warning look before he made any jabs - "but it would degrade my own ethics if I put you into detention for giving Mulciber what he deserves."

Surprised at this, James and Sirius gave each other sidelong smirks. They never thought Kate would be for any cause of theirs.

James confidently leaned back with his elbows over his head, then said, "I rather think you're getting soft on us, Nolan. I wonder how much we could get away with now, Padfoot, now that we happen to know about Miss Katie's grudge against Slytherins."

Kate looked like she wanted to reprimand herself for opening her mouth.

"Don't," she warned. "Obviously, I don't think it's right that you'll hex just about anyone because they're in Slytherin. They can't all be evil... But," she added against her will, "from personal experience, I find that at least a small portion of Slytherin house grows up without a conscience. I wouldn't be inclined to tell you off if something mysteriously happened to Mulciber or Avery or whoever. Just don't make it obvious, whatever you do, alright?" she asked, sounding resigned to the fact that James and Sirius would never cease fire in pranking people.

Sirius smirked at James and pointed his thumb at Kate in astonishment. "She's egging us on!"

"No, I'm not," she said, frustrated. "I'm just saying... Oh, forget it!"

Kate swiftly turned and left the hospital without a word to James or Sirius, apparently her visit with Lily was over. Before she could fully get out of earshot, though, she heard Sirius call after her.

"No worries, Nolan, we'll carry out your oh-so covert opts mission of avenging Evans!"

James turned toward Sirius, giving him a funny sort of expression. Sirius didn't notice at first, still watching Kate's retreating back, like he was secretly amused about something. A slow grin then crept on James's face, as he stared at Sirius in a new light.

"Talk about getting soft," commented James airily. "Since when do you agree to do unsaid favors for Kate Nolan?"

Sirius shrugged. "Since she started being not such a pain in the arse. I mean, she's till a bit of one, but in times like these, when she wavers in her pain-in-the-arse crusades, she's not bad." He nodded, mock wisely.

James tried to contain the shit-eating grin that now spread over his face. Unable to help himself, he finally burst, "You know I have a theory."

"Yeah, and what would that be?"

"You like her."

Sirius froze, then slowly turned to give James a look that said he belonged in St. Mungo's.

"Who?" he said slowly, to confirm whether James was really talking about Kate.

"We were previously talking about Nolan, were we not?" sighed James exasperatedly. "Or is you attention span that abysmally short?"

"I have a theory too," countered Sirius. "And that's that you lost some of your smarts when you flew into that tree, because otherwise there is no way you'd come up with such a ridiculous notion."

"She's growing on you," said James confident about his theory now. "You probably thought that little, er,_ adventure_ on Halloween was a bit of fun, especially since Nolan was acting so - _not_ Nolan. And now she's grown on you." At the affronted look Sirius was giving him, James added, "Come on, mate. For someone who could care less for Nolan, her name gets mentioned in a lot of your conversations. A _lot_. Just yesterday, you were going on about how worthless your house-elf was, then it somehow led to how anal Kate is."

Sirius paused, realizing James had a point. It wasn't as though he sought to bring up Kate on a regular basis, it just happened for some reason. He couldn't help it if the most minuscule things just happened to somehow remind him of Kate.

But was that normal?

Sirius shook his head.

"Sorry Prongs, but seeing as your own love life isn't exactly ideal, as you pine over someone who clearly despises you, I don't think you're really allowed to give me advise-"

"I'm not advising you," said James, sounding annoyed. "I'm_ telling_ you, I can read you inside out. And I think I can determine when my best mate fancies a girl. Whether you like it or not, you constantly badger on about Kate...

"And just so you know, I think Nolan's alright once you get her to loosen up, so I don't mind if you want to date her or whatever. Us Marauders wouldn't make fun... Well, except perhaps Wormtail, who's still seeking revenge for when you ruined his big date with Sally Meadowes. Poor Peter is still very emotional about that. But I do admit, that leprechaun was _brilliant_."

"You're an idiot."

"Gee, thanks," said James dejectedly. "Now I've learned not to compliment my friend -"

"No, now you've learned not to accuse me of liking someone who I clearly. Do. Not. Like. End of story."

* * *

Sat on the common room couch in front of the fire, Kate had a textbook and parchment sprawled in her lap and was currently scribbling. If Sirius Black hadn't been off gallivanting around the castle all day, then Kate wouldn't be forced to finish the second half of their potions essay, and would be allowed to go to bed. But he wasn't there, so she had to finish the essay because it was due tomorrow.

"Stupid Sirius," she grumbled by herself. It only confirmed her suspicion that Sirius was under the impression that the world revolved around him and nobody else.

Trying to rid thoughts of the reckless Gryffindor boy out of her head, Kate concentrated on finishing the concluding paragraph. She probably would've finished if her train of thought hadn't been interrupted by Lily, who had suddenly swept into the common room. With surprising energy, Lily climbed over the couch and plopped down next to Lily, breathless and windswept.

"What happened to you?"

"Sirius Black likes you."

Kate's head snapped up, to confirm that Lily wasn't playing some kind of sick joke on her. The mere idea of Sirius liking her was preposterous, seeing as he would have to get over the fact that he found Kate incredibly annoying (and the feeling was mutual).

She told Lily in a cold voice. "Funny, Lily. Really witty."

"When you're done giving me the assonance lesson," said Lily, rolling her green eyes, though she was still grinning. "I happen to know Sirius likes you because I was eavesdropping."

"Ah yes," said Kate, as though Lily had just confirmed it was all a joke. "The Hogwarts gossip vine, such a reliable source filled with trusting toadies such as Bertha Jorkins and Narcissa Black. Tell me, this wouldn't have anything to do with my little Arthurian escapade with Black on Halloween-?"

"It's got nothing to do with that! Well, it was mentioned, but that's not the point. It didn't come from Jorkins or Narcissa, but the original source themselves. James Potter and Sirius Black."

Kate's back grew stiff; she didn't like where this conversation was going at all. Slowly, she asked, "What do you mean?"

"You know how Black and Potter are practically brothers. Therefore they know more about each other than themselves, so Potter was somehow able to tell, and so he reckoned that Black had a crush on you and was beginning to soften-"

"You're joking."

"Would I kid about something so _severely _entertaining?"

"Probably."

"Well, I'm not. Anyway, Black of course denied everything-"

"Good!" burst Kate, relieved that the entire accusation was without proof. "Thats a good sign, thats-very good!" she said for lack of anything else to say. "You know, Potter isn't the all-knowing being he'd like to think he is, so he's probably just severely mistaken. I never did think Potter was very stable - all those bludgers to the head - the boy isn't even able to properly comb his hair."

Lily grinned at the way Kate was rambling. It was Kate's tactic to distract her mind from unpleasant or disruptive thoughts.

"Because he doesn't like me!" snapped Kate, suddenly stern and uneasy about the way Lily kept smiling. "Thats just absurd! Sirius Black does not like me!"

"What?" asked Merle, who had swept down from the girls staircase. "Sirius Black likes you?"

"He _doesn't_ like me!" said Kate, feeling the heat in her face grow hotter. "I mean, really, what's gotten into everyone! Just because I fall for - one _measly_ night, I fall under something thats more like a love potion, and everyone jumps to a conclusion - he doesn't like me!"

"You're not talking about Sirius, are you?" asked Remus calmly, who was accompanied by Peter. The two had seemingly materialized out of nowhere to join the girls in the common room.

"What gives you that idea?" demanded Kate.

"Well," reasoned Remus. "If it had been anybody else who liked you, you wouldn't be this flustered. But clearly-"

"You're wrong!" lied Kate, seeming almost desperate now. "Because we weren't talking about Black at all, we were, we were talking about Mulciber!"

Peter did a double take at the revelation, but Remus was less than convinced that Kate was telling the truth.

"Mulciber likes you?" said Peter, looking scared. "Maybe he was imperioed."

"Don't you mean _imperiused_?" asked Lily, but she was cut off by Kate, who abruptly stood and faced Peter.

"Contrary to what you think,_ Pettigrew_, I am not that repulsive so as people have to be coerced with unforgivable means just to fancy me! So you can just shove it up your arse!"

With that, Kate grabbed her essay and textbook and marched upstairs.

Merle immediately broke the silence, letting out a great bark of laughter and pointing at Peter. "She told you off, didn't she!"

"Whatever," grumbled Peter, slinking out the Fat Lady portrait. "I still think Mulciber would have to be imperioed. Imperiused."

"Merlin, I love it when she loses her temper like that," said Merle, wiping a tear of mirth from her eye. "Her minds tends to go out the window as well."

"I personally think she's taking it well," said Lily. "Considering it's Black who likes her."

Remus raised his eyebrows at this.

* * *

"I hate to ask," said Remus. "Especially since I feel like I'm back in primary school when I do ask, but... you don't fancy Kate Nolan, do you?"

Sirius, who had been calmly lying on his bed with a Quidditch magazine sprawled on his face, suddenly snatched the magazine and threw it aside. Sitting up, he sent James a withering glare.

"Do you see the monster you've created!"

"I didn't tell anyone," shrugged James.

"Then who did?"

"I got wind of it in the common room," said Remus, slightly surprised.

"What?!" Sirius abruptly stood up. "Are you telling me the entirety of the Gryffindor house seem to believe the very _false_ accusation that I fancy Nolan?"

Remus sighed. "No, I think it's just all the sixth year Gryffindors who know. Except for Peter, who thinks Mulciber likes her. Anyway, it was Lily Evans and Merle Lucas who were talking to Nolan about it-"

Sirius blanched, looking very taut and beyond rage. "Nolan knows?" he said very quietly.

"What's the big deal?" James cut in smugly. "After all, you've never cared about false rumors before. Remember Marlene McKinnon and Autumn Clearwater, how everyone kept saying you were dating both at once, but you didn't care that the rumors were entirely fake? Why is it suddenly important now?"

"Because it's Nolan! At least McKinnon and Clearwater flourished my reputation a bit, but Nolan-"

"Or maybe you're only jumpy because this one is actually _true_," said James with finality. "Mate, really, just fess up to it. You fancy Nolan. We won't laugh... Well, I _might_ laugh, just a bit, but you know perfectly well Moony won't."

"Actually, I might," admitted Remus with a small smile on his face. "At the irony of Sirius fancying a girl who he spent most of his time trying to prove how much he disliked-"

"Sorry to cut in on your little imaginary joke," said Sirius, again terse. "But there's no such feelings. So when will you lot get it through your thick skulls that I don't like Kate Nolan! Believe me, if I did, then you would definitely be in on the secret."

James grinned, "Believe me, Padfoot, we're already in on the secret. You're the only one who isn't."


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: **This one is dedicated to my recent anon reviewers. You guys really,*really* need to get accounts so I can reply properly.

**rachelray **- I know what you mean about James, I'd love it if a guy just flew into a tree for me, lol. The "imperioed" thing was a mistake on my part, because I really thought it was "imperioed" until I googled it and discovered it was "imperiused" so I just made it Peter's mistake, lol. Thanks for your reviews!

**loliloli - **I'm glad I made the premise for you refreshing (that was after all, what I intended). I'll try my best to flesh out Kate a little more but I'm not sure how about doing it. Thanks for the concrit.

**HarleyQ - **Love your name. Yes, it would be nice if Peter died of a Batman-related incident, but that would go against canon *grumbles about the unfairness of it all*. Are you another Regulus fangirl? I'm definitely one, and am currently brainstorming more ideas to pull him into the fic without his appearance being random. As much as I love concrit, I love sunshine, lolipops and rainbows more! Especially lolipops.

**hahaha **- I'm glad that you find this so hilarious that you think it appropriate to dub yourself "hahaha" thanks for that!

* * *

Chapter 9

* * *

Kate tapped her quill to her lip, carefully considering the next words to choose. The person sitting opposite her sighed loudly, and asked, "Can't we hang out someplace else? I hate the library."

Kate stared at Leah. "If you remember correctly, it's _my_ eight sickles, so no."

Leah sighed again and propped her elbow against her chin. Then, with an annoyed glance at the parchment Kate was scribbling on, Leah asked, "What are you writing anyway?"

After a moment of hesitance, Kate finally slid the parchment across to Leah.

After reading the title, Leah grinned and repeated, "Seven reasons to hate Sirius Black? Just out of curiosity, why do you need to write such a list?"

"To convince people that there's nothing between us. I would've listed 'Five reasons why Black does not fancy me' but I found it to be self-detrimental."

Leah read the list aloud:

**1:** He's a pompous git. End of story.

**2:** He's a womanizer. Dated both McKinnon and Clearwater at the same time, those pour souls.

**3:** He's a terribly insensitive potions partner, and wouldn't allow me to help a lot of the time.

**4:** He's bad at insults. Honestly, if you're going to make a career out of insulting people, at least be good at your craft.

**5:** He hates all Slytherins without a second thought.

**6:** He's a pompous git. And knows it.

"Where's number seven?"

"I haven't thought of it yet."

"I know one," said Leah helpfully, handing the list back to Kate. "He calls _me_ a bad Seeker. And seems to think that I'm responsible for losing the House Cup to Slytherin last year, blatantly forgetting the fact that his _dear brother_ had cheated during that game!"

Kate gave her a curious look. "How did Regulus Black cheat?"

"I dunno," she mumbled bitterly. "I just know there is no way he could've caught the Snitch_ five minutes_ into the game, without some sort of external help. Damn wanker."

"It is a good one, though," said Kate as she wrote down, '_He makes rude judgments on people such as Leah, who is a perfectly competent Seeker_'.

"Thanks," said Leah, flattered.

Lily shortly entered the library and spotted Leah and Kate grinning at each other. When Lily wearily approached them, Kate gave her the rudest greeting possible.

"Lily, go away."

Stung, Lily stared at the two of them and asked, "Why? Who's this?"

"My new study partner; Leah - er, what's your surname?"

"Jacobs."

"Leah Jacobs, meet Lily Evans, my _ex_-best friend," said Kate spitefully.

Lily gaped, dropping her satchel in her astonishment. "Oh, I see. So you're _replacing_ me?"

"Well," Kate began very considerately, "Considering how inadequate you've been in the best friend department lately, yes, I am. Miss Jacobs here is a lot more supportive in my movement against Black, more than what you've done in the past week."

Leah butted in, "I got to admit, though, I'm not really here to study. Kate paid me eight sickles to be here since no one else would agree."

"Bloody unreasonable!" said Lily, trying to control the volume of her voice. "You're telling me that you'd rather pay off a complete stranger rather than study with your best friend? Or even your _ex_-best friend," she added, rolling her eyes.

"In her defense, I'm not a complete stranger. I'm Gryffindor and only a year under you."

Kate nodded and said, "Really Lily, I don't think you've fully come to terms with how negligent you've been. Exhibit A: You did nothing to prevent Black from snogging the daylights out of me on Halloween night. Exhibit B: You've shown no sympathy or righteous anger at the aftermath of Slughorn's party. Exhibit C: You've mercilessly teased me not only about Slughorn's party, but about the supposed claim that Black fancies me. Honestly, you should be grateful that I'm not giving you the cold shoulder."

Leah, who was listening intently to the unfolding argument, whistled.

"You know, I'm beginning to like this. Hearing about your problems puts a nice perspective on the insignificance of mine. I mean, no offense, but it sounds like your personal life is turning into a car wreck, what with your best friend's betrayal and your_ weird_ love life-"

"Do you see what you've done to me?" Kate asked Lily. "My sixth year is being compared to a car wreck, thanks."

"When you're done with your stroke of self-pity," snapped Lily. "You're going to regret this. And, and you won't even like Jacobs as a new best friend, because she's the Seeker of Gryffindor and she hates chocolate as well as sarcasm!"

Leah sent Lily a disbelieving look. "Are you mental? I love chocolate and sarcasm."

"Is that right?" Kate smiled. "Then I think we'll get on just fine. I really don't mind Quidditch at all, I only pretended to hate it all these years to go alone with Lily's Potter-bashing sessions. Now that I'm liberated, I won't have to put up with the facade!"

"Are you telling me you _like_ Quidditch?" asked Lily in a deadly quiet voice.

"I think it's alright, yeah."

Kate seemed to hit a nerve, because Lily began using desperate means to get back at her.

"Well - you're just in denial because Sirius definitely fancies you!"

Silence.

The tenseness of the situation wasn't broken until Leah said, "That's hard to believe. I mean, he did mention that you were a bad snogger. That doesn't seem like what he'd say about someone he fancies."

Kate's eyes widened in shock. "He called_ me _a bad snogger?"

"Oh, look who cares!" said Lily very smugly.

Kate ignored Lily, gathering her things and exiting the library. Lily stared after Kate, regretting having gotten that low just to make Kate angry.

As though reading her thoughts, Leah wryly commentated, "That was really low."

"Oh, shut it."

* * *

Kate was _furious_. It wasn't the fact that Sirius had called her a bad kisser (though it didn't help her mood). It was more of the fact that the likes of Leah Jacobs had somehow gotten wind of this opinion. As much as Kate hated to admit it, Sirius' opinion was highly valued by many students. If people thought that Kate was bad at kissing, then her chance at a romantic life (nee Frank Longbottom) would diminish. And Kate would not allow Black to ruin that for her as well.

Unlike all the other times where Kate dreaded going to potion class, she now looked forward to the hour. Marching into the dungeons, clearly on a mission, Kate slammed her books onto her desk and fell into her chair with a huff. Then she waited for Sirius to walk in.

Of course, he wasn't on time. Sirius ended up slinking into the classroom a minute late. To her annoyance, Slughorn had already launched into a full lecture, further delaying her plan of verbal attack on Sirius. She grinned at the evil idea, and glanced at the clock. Slughorn's lectures tended to be lengthy.

"... perhaps Miss Nolan could supply an answer?" Slughorn interrupted her reverie.

"Er, excuse me?" said Kate in a small voice. She felt a blush come on as many eyes in the classroom fell to her in expectation. "What?"

"Asphodel?" said Slughorn. "Where do its roots lie?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sirius was silently cracking up. James Potter turned in his seat to smirk at her.

"Erm... it's traditionally associated with the afterlife...?"

To her surprise and relief, Slughorn accepted this answer with a nod. "Good, Miss Nolan. Try to heed a bit more attention in class, though, perhaps?"

"Yes, professor."

While Slughorn walked away, Kate gave Sirius very cold eyes. Before Sirius could ask, Slughorn issued that everybody make an aging potion for today's lesson.

"Excellent," said James as he passed their table to gather ingredients from the cabinet. "I know what I'm having for lunch today. Do you think Evans likes older men?"

Kate slammed the cauldron on their desk, startling both Sirius and James, and a few other surrounding students too. Kate non-verbally conjured up a fire underneath the burner and proceeded to furiously toss wormwood and sneezewort into the cauldron.

As oblivious to female emotion James and Sirius were, they both were able to tell that Kate was not in a happy mood.

"What did you do?" James muttered low enough so only Sirius could hear.

"I dunno," shrugged Sirius.

As James walked away, Sirius reached for some daisy roots to chop up, but found that Kate had already taken a knife and was, with more force than necessary, cutting the daisies herself.

Then after flicking the roots into the cauldron, she snapped her head toward him and said, "Are you going to just stand there or do something?"

"What's got your panties in a twist?"

"_Don't_, for a second, think that you have any effect on my panties."

"Ah," said Sirius knowingly. "So it's me your angry with. What did I do wrong now, blink my eyelids the wrong number of times?"

"You know what you did," she said, while forcing a spoon into the thick brown potion to stir.

Sirius was trying to contribute, but found it difficult to concentrate and just stood there and spoke.

"Contrary to what you believe, Nolan, I cannot read minds."

"But you certainly can spread lies!" she snapped loudly, causing Sirius to shush her so that the professor wouldn't think anything was wrong.

"What are you on about?" he muttered, annoyed.

She stopped stirring to quietly say through gritted teeth, "I'm talking about telling everybody what a _bad snogger I am_."

Sirius tried not to gape, shaking his head is disbelief. Then he said, "Well, see, that's not a lie; you really are a bad snogger."

Kate dropped the spoon and spun toward him, looking as though she wanted nothing more than to slap him. Thankfully, she didn't resort to any physical violence.

"That's _rich_, coming from you!"

Too angry to care whether half the class overheard them now, Sirius asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You_ drool!_" she said, happy that she finally had some leverage. "You're like the Nile with your saliva!"

To her immense satisfaction, Sirius went slightly red from anger and perhaps humiliation. It didn't take him long to strike back however.

"Yeah, well, you have bad breathe! I mean _terrible_."

She let out a small scream of frustration.

"Black, you are the most contemptible, conceited, biggest arse I've ever met!"

"Oh, is that what I get for having paved out the truth in front of you?"

By now, they had the attention of at least a quarter of the class and weren't even bothering trying to cover up the fact that they weren't working on the potion. To the rescue, James deliberately began a loud coughing fit for the benefit of distraction, as well as hoping it would get Sirius and Kate to snap out of their argument.

It didn't work.

"The _truth_?" repeated Kate angrily. "The truth is just the sight of you makes me _sick_ to my stomach."

"OUCH!" shouted Lily, clutching her hand. "Professor, I cut my hand _really badly_! Could Kate escort me to the hospital wing?"

"Well, if a simple healing spell won't do, then I s'pose," nodded Professor Slughorn. If it hadn't been one of Slughorn's favorites, he probably would've been more hesitant.

Lily steered Kate out of the classroom.

Already knowing that Lily had lied to get her out of the classroom, Kate snapped, "What was that for?"

"You're making a fool of yourself!" said Lily. "I mean, it's alright to argue with him in the common room or wherever, when no one's watching. But in the classroom? It's getting a bit personal, don't you think?"

"But I won't let him do this to me!" cried Kate desperately. "He's _ruining_ me!"

"Don't be so dramatic," sighed Lily, rolling her eyes. "You sound like you think he's out to get you, and clearly he's not. Look, Black probably only told people you were a bad snogger to save face. Remember the day right after Halloween, everyone was asking you what Sirius was like. He was going through the exact humiliating experience."

"Yeah, but the difference is, I didn't spill over that Black was a bad snogger! I kept it to myself!"

Lily smiled in surprise. "Was he really bad?"

Feeling strangely honest, Kate said, "Well, no, but let me just say that he is incredibly overrated."

"Well, that seems to coincide with your own theory that snogging in of itself is overrated."

Kate stared at Lily for a moment longer, then sighed, "Lily, I'm sorry about this morning. I was being an idiot. You're still my best friend, albeit a very crappy one."

Lily smiled in relief. "Thanks, and I deserve that."

"But I hope you don't mind, I think I'll keep Jacobs around. I'm very taken with her."

"Oh great."


	9. Chapter 9

**AN**: Sorry for the delay. Some time has elapsed since the last chapter, so it takes place after Christmas break. Feedback will be rewarded with hugs!

* * *

Chapter 10

* * *

Sirius smothered James's face with a pillow.

"Gehoff!" yelled James's muffled voice from underneath the pillow. The messy-haired teenager struggled for a moment, trying to push the weight of his best friend off himself.

"Not till you take it back!" yelled Sirius, still sitting on top of James.

"Take what back?" came his suffocated reply.

"That I fancy Nolan!"

Giving up, James collapsed under the weight of Sirius. In a resentfully vague voice, he said, "You don't like Kate Nolan."

"Thank you!" Sirius finally let off and sat against the couch of the common room, looking agitated beyond reason.

"What's gotten into you?" demanded James loudly once he was freed, readjusting his glasses. "You know it's not normal for people to randomly attack their best friend for no reason."

"No reason my arse," said Sirius resentfully. "I just got back from the worst Potions class ever."

James held back a smirk, remembering the eventful afternoon. "I know, mate, I was there."

"Can you believe she poured a _potion_ over _my_ head?"

"Well, you shouldn't have called her an annoying chit, Pad."

"She shouldn't have wounded my precious pride, Prongs," he replied haughtily.

James smiled mischievously. "Mate, it sounds to me like you're in _Sirius_ need of some leverage against dear Miss Nolan. Interested, my friend?"

Sirius smirked at James, aware that his friend had an idea in mind. "What kind of leverage are we talking, Mssr Prongs?" James reached into his satchel and pulled out a notebook. He tossed the book over to Sirius, who caught it and read the front cover:

_The journal of Kate E. Nolan_

_(written in from December 8, 1975 to ?)_

Sirius broke out in a wide grin.

"I didn't know she had a diary," he said. "Where'd you find it?"

"In the library," said James, looking pleased with himself. "She must have dropped it or something. I picked it up, figuring it might be of some interest to you."

James left out how he thought Sirius would only be interested because of his aforementioned crush, which Sirius continued to vehemently deny.

"What do you suppose we do with it?"

"I dunno. Something. I think we'll keep it for now, and see how she panics about losing it."

Sirius went upstairs to stash the journal somewhere secret.

* * *

_Two days later. 4:43 pm. The library._

Lily and Merle glanced up from the essays they were writing, annoyed at being interrupted by Bertha Jorkins of all people. Bertha leveled each girl with an expression of smugness, and then asked, "You're friends with Kate Nolan, right?"

"So?" snapped Lily. She didn't particularly like Jorkins, not since the girl was responsible for a rumor that Lily regularly dyed her hair.

"Did you you hear?" asked Bertha, smirking.

Lily rolled her eyes, but Merle leaned forward in preparation for some supremely juicy gossip.

"Hear what?"

"Kate lost it over Christmas break. To _Sirius Black_."

"Lost what?" asked Lily, ignoring the sick feeling that had made its way into her stomach.

Bertha rolled her eyes sarcastically. "_Her earring_. What do you think I mean, Evans?" She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Her virginity."

As Merle gasped, Lily abruptly stood, pointing at Bertha.

"You despicable liar!"

"You didn't know?" said Bertha, feigning sympathy. "It's all over the school by now. No one can believe it."

"I won't believe a word of it," said Lily fiercely, gathering her things. "And neither should you Merle."

Lily marched out of the library, furious that such a ridiculous rumor was being spread throughout the school. She had to warn Kate right away.

* * *

While Lily was headed for their dormitory, Kate was already inside, frantically searching the room for her beloved notebook.

"_Where is it?_" she snapped, slamming her drawers shut. Lily shortly came into the dorms in a huff, dropping her satchel as she did so.

"You will not believe what I just heard," said Lily breathily. "Some _ridiculous _rumor about how you _lost it_."

Not paying Lily attention in the slightest, Kate only heard the last part of Lily's pre-rant and said, "I _have _lost it!" while scanning the underside of Merle's bed.

Lily froze in horror, not expecting this at all.

"W-What?"

"Yeah, it's gone!" said Kate in a high-pitched voice. "Just gone! The flower of my privacy, _gone_."

"The flower of your privacy... Oh gods," said Lily quietly, horrified by this revelation. "This has got to be some sick joke... Kate, how could you?"

Kate gave Lily a strange look.

"It was an accident," said Kate, who found it strange that Lily cared so much about her lost journal.

Lily gaped. "An _accident_? But how - no, I don't want to know." Lily firmly shook her head. "God, Kate, but you didn't even tell me? Your best friend in the whole world?"

Not in the mood to argue with Lily about why her lost journal was none of Lily's god damned business, Kate shrugged and said, "I wanted to make sure it was really lost before I told anyone..."

She proceeded to search under Lily's bed. Lily remained oblivious, still lost in her own bubble of distress. Lily sat down on a bed, taking deep, shaky breaths.

"How'd you find out anyway?"

"Bertha Jorkins," Lily replied distantly.

"How'd _she_ find out?"

"I s'pose Sirius told them."

"Sirius?" repeated Kate. Then her expression turned dark. "Black! I should've known that wanker was at fault here."

Lily stared at Kate in horror.

"So... so it's true then?" asked Lily in a shaky voice. "You and Black... I always thought you two hated each other, but I suppose that was a cover up for something... else... and now... and he was involved."

"Of course he was," snapped Kate angrily, oblivious that her friend was going through emotional peril at that moment. "I'm going to have a little chat with him."

"You know, you're not acting the way I thought you would," said Lily, blinking back tears. "But I've realized something about you..."

"Uh-huh," said Kate, who returned to diligently searching the dorm again. She really didn't pay attention to what Lily was saying anymore.

"And that's that you're so _strong_... so brave," rambled Lily. "You want to hide your mistakes and your weaknesses, and you're doing it right now, as we speak. Because the trauma is too deep for you to handle. But I see through your facade, Kate."

Kate glanced at Lily. "What _are _you talking about?"

"No need to speak, Kate," said Lily, who stood up and suddenly engulfed Kate with a hug. "I understand that your grief will go unsaid. Because that's who you are."

Kate silently wondered whether Lily was going mental.

What grief? It was only a journal.

* * *

"It's true."

"No!" gasped Leah. "Impossible!"

"I talked to her myself," said Lily, still on the brink of tears from the encounter. "She admitted it. She's pretending like it was no big deal. You know how Kate is. Deep down, she's torn up inside."

"But how?" asked Leah. "I mean, Sirius Black? She hates him, doesn't she?"

"Apparently not," said Lily. "I suppose they were just pretending, for the sake of everyone else. Then they used Christmas break as a ruse to get closer... Now he's taken poor Kate's virginity... Merle, are you okay?"

Throughout the interaction, Merle had been glaring at nothing in particular. She suddenly turned blazing eyes toward her friends.

"How would you feel if you knew your good friend had been _used?_"

"Used?" repeated Lily in a soft voice.

"Sirius Black used her, I know it," snapped Merle darkly. "I confronted him about it myself, I wanted to know his side of the story on whether they, you know, bumped uglies." The girls winced at her choice in words. "And you know what he did? He laughed! The bastard laughed like she was just a one-night stand! Because she was!"

"That cold-hearted prick!" said Lily. "That whole supposed crush he had was just a ruse, I bet, to trick her into thinking it was alright to return his feelings. Because otherwise, she would _never_ have sex unless she thought she were truly in love. Poor girl."

"So it's true then?" asked an eavesdropping fourth year. "Pure Kate Nolan is no longer pure? Brilliant, I'm gonna go tell my friends."

"You will do no such thing!" growled Lily fiercely, yanking the poor fourth year by the collar. "You will tell your friends that Kate Nolan was merely besmirched by a ruthless, unlawful bastard! And that's the end of it!"

She finally let the fourth year kid go, recollecting herself. The boy ran off, frightened of Lily's uncontrollable temper.

"Well, you know what we've got to do now?" Leah asked the group in general. "We've got to extract some sort of revenge."

Lily immediately jumped at the opportunity. "Like what?"

"Well, I dunno. I suppose we can put him under a love potion and have Kate completely break his heart, like the way he did to her. An eye for an eye, right?"

"Brilliant!" said Lily with an air of spite. "Make him feel the hell he put her through. I'll go buy the potions ingredients."

"But the next Hogsmeade visit isn't until January 16, that's two weeks from now!"

"Then we can borrow some ingredients from around the school. I know Severus Snape has some."

Leah butted in, "Or we can just go right to the source, and steal that bottle of Amortentia from Slughorn."


	10. Chapter 10

**AN**: The atrocious grammar mistakes from before have been cleaned up, and a few lines of dialogue have been altered. But if you really don't give a damn, you don't have to reread. :)

* * *

Chapter 10

* * *

Remus and Peter stared at James with strange expressions, curious as to why he would suddenly burst out laughing. Remus set down the textbook he had been leafing through, and asked, "What, pre tell, is so funny?"

James pointed over to Sirius, who was sprawled out on his bed, a notebook in front of. "Padfoot is reading Nolan's diary," James said between laughs.

All three boys glanced at Sirius, who only rolled his eyes. "What?" he snapped.

"First of all," Remus began in a resigned sort of stupor, "Why, _why_ do you have her diary? Secondly, why are you even reading it?"

"I'm bored," was his simple explanation. "It's not like I'm really reading it. I'm only skimming it."

"I hope she finds out and hexes the blazes out of you," mumbled Remus bitterly. "Reading a girl's private thoughts is not right, no matter how much you despise her."

Sirius ignored Remus's rant, flipping open to the first entry. It was dated December 9, 1975:

_Erm. A proper introduction could be... My name is Kate Edith Nolan; I was born on December 7, 1960, and I am currently attending my fifth year at Hogwarts. And I've bored you to death._

Sirius snorted, silently agreeing.

_In regards to why the hell I'm writing in this journal - I'm being forced to. Alice insisted that I write my feelings down, because apparently I'm so uptight that my mental health is teetering on the edge of despair. Her words, not mine... Alice just peaked over my shoulder and said, "Thats exactly what I mean," then went on to explain that I mask my insecurities through sarcasm. Uh huh. _

_My background is fairly normal. I'm a half-blood witch, born to Emma and Edward Nolan. Ah, my parents, so lovely. And hell-bent on me becoming little perfect versions of themselves. _

_I live in England, where rain is mandatory. Then I spend most of my time at Hogwarts, with my good ol' friends. First there's Alice Scott, whose absolutely adorable. She's Hufflepuff, and literally epitomizes that House - sweet, loyal, supporting, not at all critical. Except this morning, when she implied that I have unresolved issues by handing me this notebook. She's fair-looking, blondish hair, brown eyes, chubby face. Like a teddy bear who I want to squeeze._

_Then there's Merle Lucas, or as I like to call her, Mad Merle. She's a bit chubby with dark brown hair and pale eyes. In fact, she looks a tad evil (the flesh reflects the madness within). Merle says everything thats on her mind, which is a lethal combination when you have the maturity of a nine-year-old. _

_Last and foremost, Lily Evans. I am currently at a tug of war for her Best-Friend-Ship with Severus Snape. I really don't understand either, because I should be the clear winner up against that ugly git._

Sirius couldn't help but laugh. James gave him a suspicious look.

_Words to describe Lily... Well, she's mind-numbingly perfect beyond believability. So perfect it makes me want to vomit (then again, I want to vomit at a lot of things). She's beautiful (brilliant green eyes, flawless skin, and fiery red hair - yes, hair can be fiery). Then she gets top marks in all of our classes. And she's clever._

_Perfect. Barf. But it's truly impossible to hate Lily. Believe me, I tried in first year and she killed me with kindness. I'm still dead from it, see? Anyway, I'm no longer envious, as Lily has the worst sort of admirers. James Potter, Eric Stebbins, Severus Snape. Ew._

_As for me... I like listening to music, both Muggle and magical (The Beatles and the Doxies, anyone?). I read quite a bit, but not to an obsessive degree. I also pride myself in carrying the prefect badge, which is in fact a badge of "I'm NOT an immature git"._

Sirius rolled his eyes. Of course.

_I honestly believed that Lily would get the badge. But she doesn't follow the rules as closely as I do. As for personality... I'm sarcastic? So there, me in a nutshell. Oh, before I forget - I am madly in love with Remus Lupin. That is all._

Sirius cracked up laughing, bewildering his friends around him.

"Guys," said James mock seriously. "Padfoot has finally fallen into the realm of insanity."

When Sirius finished laughing, he glanced at Remus and mirthfully said, "By the way, Moony - she's madly in love with you!" He fell into another fit of laughter.

"No, she isn't," said Remus, who was so determined to prove Sirius wrong that he stood up and took the journal to skim. Occasionally, Remus wile smile appreciatively at Kate's sense of humor, but near the end of the entry, he frowned and furrowed his eyebrows. "Oh," he said quietly.

"Really?" smirked James, just as surprised. "That's... interesting."

"She had a terrible way of showing her fancy!" piped up Peter, also surprised. "Really, she lectured you all the time about not punishing us." Peter did a strikingly similar imitation of Kate's voice. "_Lupin, Potter just flooded the girl's loo, what are you going to do about it_?"

James joined in the fun, also doing Kate's voice, though not as accurate as Peter. "_Lupin, Black just made that first year cry - go scold him, you spineless twit!_"

Unable to help himself, Sirius had the worst voice impression due to his low voice. "_Lupin, I secretly love you and want you to shag me senseless every night!_"

"Will you shut up?" said Remus as James and Peter joined Sirius in laughing. "I really do home she curses you senseless someday." Defeated, Remus handed the journal back to Sirius.

"I'd like to see her try," challenged Sirius.

* * *

Sirius stood near the bank of Hogwarts lake, admiring the beautiful Scotland scenary. He began skipping rocks across the lake, sending small ripples through its still blue hue.

To accent the peaceful morning, a screeching, "BLACK!" cut through the morning air.

"What a pleasant sound," said Sirius sardonically. He stopped skipping rocks to turn toward Kate, who had just marched up to him, looking tense as ever. "You look like you're in need of a good snog."

"_You stole my journal and I want it back!_" she said with such ferocity that it made Sirius take a step backward.

"I prefer the term _borrowed_, Nolan, it makes it sound less juvenile."

"You're unbelievable. There are literally no words in the English language to express my disgust with you!"

"Come on, Nolan," sighed Sirius. "What do you expect from the 'Spawn of Satan' a.k.a. me? That was my favorite entry, by the way."

Kate glared at Sirius, momentarily too angered to speak. Then she finally said, "You're despicable. Really, just when I thought you couldn't possibly lower yourself anymore - congratulations, Black, you've succeeded in completely depleting any moral ground. You must sleep like a baby."

"What a surprise, more sarcasm from Nolan! You know, I think your friend Alice had a point about you masking your vulnerability through that _charming _wit of yours. Because honestly, I can't think why else every single word out of your mouth, even in the utmost privacy of a diary, has to come with just a hint of sarcasm."

Kate didn't say anything for a moment, feeling helpless. She hated this feeling, the feeling of a fish flopping outside of water. She felt exposed.

Sirius wondered what was with the odd break of silence, and felt relieved once Kate finally said something.

"Give me my journal back."

"Sorry, no."

"What do you mean, no? It belongs to me, I want it back!"

He chewed on his tongue for a moment, before coming up with a believable lie. "By no, I mean I can't."

"Why not?"

"Er, I sold it." Sirius didn't even understand why he was lying in the first place, he just knew he didn't want to give up the journal so soon. At the outraged look Kate was sending him, Sirius nodded, "Yep, I sold it. You didn't think I'd be interested in reading something so pathetically mundane as Kate Nolan's diary, did you? Some poor, misguided fourth year paid me and James 50 sickles to take it for him."

"Who?"

"Forgot his name."

"_Why_?"

"Obvious, isn't it? The kid fancies you."

"Oh please, nobody fancies me!"

"Hey, that's not true," said Sirius in a feigned admiring voice. "I fancy you."

"How cute," she snapped, rolling her eyes. "I hate your friends, by the way."

"I know," said Sirius in the same feigned voice. "We should snog now."

To further the joke, Sirius leaned in as though about to kiss Kate. She responded quickly, shoved his face away while rolling her eyes.

"I'm tired of your games," she said, annoyed. "I don't care how or why. You're the one who stole my book and then gave it away - you're the one whose going to give it back." As Sirius opened his mouth to dispute her, she pressed on, "If you don't, then I'll be reporting to Professor McGonagall how you and Potter are in possession of a very special cloak, which I'll remind you now is apart of a long list of banned items at Hogwarts. Your move."

Sirius growled in annoyance, and said, "Bloody - fine! I'll get your stupid book back." As Kate began walking away, Sirius shouted after her. "You owe me one, Nolan!"

"The hell I do!" she shouted over her shoulder.

* * *

Lily returned to the Entrance Hall where Merle and Leah were waiting. Lily had just came from the Great Hall, where she had gave Sirius the bottled Amortentia in the form of butterbeer.

"Operation Make Sirius Black Cry Like a Poncy is commenced," said Lily, satisfied.

"You don't think he was suspicious of you just randomly walking up to him to give him butterbeer?" asked Leah.

"Nope," said Lily. "He was too busy laughing at Peter Pettigrew's new haircut, which apparently he and Potter had been working on last night. James did seem a bit jealous though."

"Of the haircut?" asked Merle.

"No, of me giving Sirius butterbeer."

"Has he drank out of it yet?" Leah asked, peaking between the oak doors to see if Sirius was affected by the love potion yet.

"Not that I'm aware of," said Lily. "Listen, we can't tell Kate about the love potion until after it's in his system. Otherwise she might put a stop to the plan. She wouldn't stand for her friends breaking the rules by feeding some bloke love potion, even if he is her mortal nemesis, not to mention the bloody deflowerer of her virginity."

"Speaking of Kate," added Merle under her breath. "Hi!"

Kate had just entered the Entrance Hall.

"Have you guys ate already?" she asked them. They nodded simultaneously. "Well, my appetite's not too keen right now anyway."

"So..." said Lily awkwardly. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," said Kate, wondering why they were all staring at her in such an odd way. "Of course, it would be much better if Black just returned my - "

"Kate, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Lily said sympathetically.

Before Kate could ask, Merle nodded, "Right, we understand. And anyway, we're getting him back for you."

Lily looked as though she wanted to slap Merle, but instead turned toward Kate for a reaction.

"Well, good!" said Kate. "That's nice to know. Really, I'd just like to know how he got his grubby hands on it in the first place."

Merle said, "That's something we were wondering ourselves."

Lily forcefully elbowed Merle in the ribcage. "Merle!"

"What? I was just being honest."

"I think he may have taken it during Potions," said Kate pensively. "Or..."

"Huh?" said Leah, feeling as though she were missing out on something. Lily and Merle also stared at Kate in wonder.

"The library!" said Kate, as though an epiphany had just hit her. "Of _course_. I lost in the library!"

"Oh good gracious!" said Lily, looking faint. "You - lost it - in - the LIBRARY?!" Kate stared at Lily, not sure why Lily was overreacting so. "I mean, honestly, Kate! I've been TRYING to be supportive and understanding about this whole fiasco, but knowing that you - and Black - the LIBRARY! That's just dirty!"

"Am I missing something?" Kate asked Merle and Leah. "Is she under some sort of wonky spell - ?"

"I'M under the wonky spell?" said Lily, astounded. "What kind of decent, moral being shags their virginity off in some murky, old library?!"

"I think it's a bit funny," said Leah under her breath. "I mean, if your going to shag someplace inappropriate, she went about it the right way." Merle nodded in agreement.

"Shag - what? Excuse me?" Kate was completely confused.

"You're becoming someone who I don't even recognize! What's next, are you going to snog You-Know-Who the next chance you get?"

"Lily, calm the frak down. I didn't shag anyone."

"You - what? But yesterday, you admitted... You said you _lost_ it."

"Yeah," said Kate slowly. "I _lost my journal_."

No one had expected that. Everyone stared at Kate, feeling idiotic about the huge misunderstanding.

Merle, always the first to break the silence, said, "Oh bugger."

"Your journal..." Lily trailed off quietly. "That's... Oh."

"So are you still a virgin?" asked Merle.

"That's none of your damn business!" snapped Kate. "Frankly, I am astounded that you all somehow managed to mistake my diary for my virginity loss! You honestly think that I would loss it to-to _Sirius Black_ of all people! That's just silly!"

"Well, it's not all our fault," defended Leah. "Black led Merle on to think that you and him had shagged."

"Oh bugger!" said Merle, sounding sorry. "Well, the thing is, I wasn't very specific in asking him... I mean, I just asked whether he stole Kate's 'you-know-what' and he nodded yeah."

"Great! Bloody fantastic!" said Kate, now frantic. "So exactly how many people think I lost my virginity to him?"

"You can always take advantage of the situation," said Leah, trying to cheer her up. "I mean, get him back for that bad snogger comment he made some months ago, and tell people that he was, you know... really bad in the sack."

"Okay, is anybody else _loving_ how evil she is?" smirked Merle, pointing at Leah.

"We couldn't do that!" said Lily, who was now flushing in her own guilt. "We're already putting him through enough punishment with... " Her green eyes suddenly widened as she remembered. "The potion!"

Lily suddenly dashed passed her friends, into the Great Hall to prevent Sirius from drinking from the butterbeer. In the nick of time, Lily ran forward just as Sirius had opened the butterbeer and was putting the bottle to his lips.

Without a second thought, Lily dove forward, pushing the bottle off Sirius's lips so that it landed with a splatter on the Gryffindor table, spilling all over the food. James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and a few others around her stared at Lily in total shock.

"Did you just _dive_ to stop me from drinking butterbeer?" asked Sirius, who now wore a shirt of spilt butterbeer on him.

Remus, who had the most drink spilt on him, squeezed some of the butterbeer from his smock by twisting it.

"Er," said Lily, feeling her face heat up as she struggled for an explanation. She lamely concluded with, "No! Psht. I tripped."

She walked away, leaving the four Marauders staring after her in wonderment.

"I don't know about you guys," said James, still staring after her, "but I find her even more attractive when she pulls crazy stunts like that. Keeps me on my toes."

His friends groaned at James.

The only person who hadn't groaned was Remus. He had a strange expression on his face. Remus suddenly stood up from the table and abruptly asked his friends, "Where's Kate?"

"Probably nearby, since Lily was just here," said James. "Why?"

"Because... I have to see her..." he trailed off distantly, then began exiting the Great Hall.

James, Sirius and Peter exchanged confused looks, then all simultaneously got up to follow Remus. Sirius performed a cleaning spell on all four of them while they were walking.

"Er, where you going, Moony?" asked Peter.

"Didn't I just say?" snapped Remus irately. "To find Kate."

"But why?"

"Erm, prefect stuff."

James and Sirius immediately knew he was lying.

"Something's up," Sirius muttered to James. "I think we should follow him."

"Will do."

Remus stopped short when they had reached the Entrance Hall. His amber eyes landed on the four Gryffindor girls who were standing some distance away, near the House points system.

"Well, the Entrance Hall!" said James mock excitedly. "So far so good."

Ignoring them, Remus walked up to the girls to tap Kate on the shoulder; and when she turned around, Remus suddenly grabbed her and gave her an unexpected, passionate kiss full on the lips. Everyone else gaped - that was_ not_ something you would expect from Remus Lupin.

Even a few passerby slowed down in their steps to watch.

Once James had recovered from the initial shock, he said, "Except _that_. You know, Pads, I've always doubted Moony's ability to cause complete mayhem, but this act of indecency _clearly _proves me wrong... Pads?"

Sirius was glaring at Remus, who was just pulling away from Kate. He watched as Kate tried to recover from her dazed state of mind.

"Uh oh, someone's jealous," sung James so only Sirius could hear.

Ignoring James, he marched up between Remus and Kate and pulled Remus away by the shoulder. "Have you gone stupid? You don't just walk up and snog Nolan!

"And why not?" said Remus, trying to break free of Sirius's grasp.

"Because it's bloody unreasonable, that's why!"

Meanwhile, Lily was smacking herself on her head. "Oh gods," she mumbled. "Remus must've gotten a whiff of the love potion."

Kate finally snapped out of her shock, asking Lily, "The WHAT potion?""

"Shush!" said Lily, covering Kate by the mouth. She laughed at James and Peter, who were staring at her with questioning gazes. "We're gonna go now!" She tried to steer Kate away, but Remus butted in.

"Wait, Kate - where are you going?"

"Away from you, you nutter!" snapped Kate.

"Nutter? But I thought the feeling was mutual! You fancy me, right?"

Kate halted in her steps, and slowly revolved on the spot. Sirius swore loudly, knowing the situation would soon turn around on him. Kate flushed, staring at Remus with wide blue eyes.

"I... Lupin... No!" was all she could come up. "It was only for a few weeks_ last year_." Her eyes flashed angrily toward Sirius, knowing he was responsible for Remus knowing her little secret. "_Black!_"

"Hey!" Leah suddenly said, feigning an epiphany. "Someone needs to take Lupin to Madam Pomfrey until the potion wears off. Who's with me?"

"Me!" said Peter and Merle simultaneously. The three grabbed Remus and tried to drag him away, but he struggled against their bonds.

"Let me go! I want to stay with Kate!"

Whipping out her wand, Leah said, "You'll thank me later. _Stupefy_!" Remus fell, Stunned from the hex. Leah, Merle and Peter proceeded to drag Remus out of the hallway.

"You read my journal aloud?" Kate asked Sirius acidly.

"No," denied Sirius heatedly. "I only, _very casually,_ mentioned to Remus that you might've fancied him."

"Do you know how close I am to murdering you right now?" panted Kate.

"Very?" guessed Sirius. "Look, Nolan, it wasn't even my idea to take the journal - James was the one who stole it!"

"Rat," muttered James under his breath.

Kate turned her glare toward James and, surprisingly, Lily.

"James and Lily..." she said in the same acid voice. "Why is it that every time some sort of conflict arises between me and Black, it always comes back to you two?"

While James tried to feign innocence, Lily stammered, "Come on - you're not really going to turn the tables on us, are you?"

"You know, I agree," said Sirius, glad the pressure was off himself. "A lot of the time it's your guys' fault. Who let us go gallivanting off during Slughorn's party?"

"Or," added Kate, "who heavily magnified that nasty lie about Sirius fancying me?"

"Or who _started_ the lie," said Sirius, glaring at James.

"Since our two_ brilliant _friends still haven't taken the hint yet," said Kate, ready to launch the long-prepared speech she has had in her head for some time. "Lets try to clear the air here, once and for all. It is nightmarishly_ frustrating_ for both of you to add insult to injury day after day. Honestly, Potter, that had to be some stretch of the imagination - just to think up such a demented idea of Black fancying me.

"And even if in some bizarre twist he did fancy me, there is no way in hell that I'd ever recuperate such feelings. It's just wrong to think about, because Black and I are clearly not... good together. He is the most foul and arrogant being I've encountered, I mean someone who actually delights in tormenting those he thinks are beneath him; someone who gets ego boosts from being popular, and the sad thing is, he thinks being popular will equate to being loved, when thats far from reality!"

Kate took a long breath, and waited for someone to respond. To her surprise, everyone stayed quiet for an entire minute, staring at Kate in astonishment. With the exception of Sirius, who had a weird expression on his face which Kate had never seen before. Was it... hurt?

Kate inwardly shook the notion off. She'd never be able to bruise the ego of Sirius Black, she had long ago accepted that fact.

Still, the silence unnerved her. Why were they being so quiet?

"Er," added Kate, "and, and he definitely doesn't find _me _desirable. So that's that. No one here fancies anybody. Except for Potter, who obviously wants Lily."

Sirius suddenly reached into his robes and shoved Kate's journal into arms, before stalking off. Kate stared after Sirius, wondering if she really had went too far. She tried to shake that feeling of guilt which was slowly creeping up her chest. Sirius had to hear the truth.

"Wow," said James slowly. "_Ouch_."

"That was pretty harsh," Lily nodded in agreement.

"That was worse than anything Lily's said to me."

"Yeah, and I've compared him to the giant squid."

"Ah, thanks for reminding me, Evans."

"He's not," Kate began uncertainly, "I mean, I know he might be a bit offended, but he's not_ hurt_, is he? I mean, he's Sirius Black, he'll bounce back quickly, right?"

Kate couldn't understand why she was even asking. She shouldn't be feeling sympathy for Sirius! Yet she couldn't help the sinking feeling in her stomach.

"I dunno," admitted James. "He's definitely been insulted before, but he's never reacted by just storming off like that. I think you pretty much nailed everything on the head, Nolan. Congrats."

Kate sighed.

"Well, this has been an interesting morning," remarked Lily wryly. She then turned toward James. "Want to go check on Remus?"

"Alright."

Kate didn't have time to linger on why James and Lily were acting so nice toward each other. As the two walked away together in stride, Kate bit her lip, then glanced down at the journal. She couldn't even muster up the anger at Sirius for lying to her about selling the journal. Which was odd, since she always found a reason to be angry with Sirius.

* * *

**AN:** Remus snogged Kate! Lol, come on people, it was bound to happen. Writing that scene was SO fun. And Sirius's reaction, priceless. Then it kind of ended on a down note, didn't it? Poor Siri.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN**: So here's the thing, I'm a review whore and am DESPERATE to reach 100 reviews because I've never had that many before. So I'm giving my readers a goal to shoot for - if I get 10 reviews for this chapter, I promise to update again within the week. I know it's too much to ask for, but I'm so frickin close to 100 that I feel arrogant enough to ask for 10. So sue me.

The chapter starts off with an angry inner Sirius monologue, if you're wondering what he's thinking at the moment you might want to pay attention. I'm sorry this chapter isn't as Skate-y as the others (Sirius/Kate - Skate, yeah thanks HarleyQ lol). It's more of a set up for what's to come. Yep, I'm evil, I know

* * *

Chapter 11

* * *

Sirius punched his pillow in frustration. He wanted the voice of Kate Nolan out of his head, all the little criticisms she had to offer were enough to make anybody implode.

What perturbed Sirius the most was the fact that he actually cared. What she said was actually affecting Sirius, but he couldn't figure out how or why. Everything that was said were only regurgitated snippets of things Kate had said before, only this time, it all came out at once and in a big rush. Perhaps because it had all hit him at once, Sirius was just beginning to realize there was a small sap of truth to Kate's words.

But if he didn't care, then why was it bothering him?

Maybe because Kate Nolan _did_ care.

She made it a point to remind Sirius everyday how much of a bad person he was. And it wasn't even that Sirius was bad, just flawed. But of course, Nolan liked to lump everything into black and white terms. Still, the fact that Kate Nolan cared frustrated Sirius to no end, because that only meant that he _did care_ what Kate thought. Which was stupid, because he hated her.

"Stupid bint," he said.

"Talking to yourself, not a good sign," said James, who had overheard him. "So how's your little Angst Corner going, mate?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said tersely. "It's not as if I'm upset or anything!"

"Still bent up over Nolan?" asked a newly recovered Remus, who just swept into the boys' dormitory.

"Moony!" said Peter. "How are you? Good?"

Before Remus could answer, Sirius sat up and said, "Well, if it isn't Sir French A Lot! Shouldn't you be walking up to random girls and snogging the hell out of them?"

"Down Padfoot," said James playfully. "There's no need to be jealous. Remus was, after all, under a love potion that was designated for you."

Sirius was too agitated to even put up a fight with James this time. Besides, he was a little too preoccupied with what James had mentioned - the love potion was for him.

"What do you mean it was for me?" asked Sirius, who already began imagining the unlikely scenario of Kate and Lily standing over a cauldron to brew the love potion.

"Evans gave you the butterbeer, didn't she? I think they were trying to get you back," shrugged James. "You know, for starting that rumor of Kate's, er, _deflowering_."

"I didn't start it!" said Sirius heatedly.

"Sure," said Remus disapprovingly, "but you had no problem adding to the fuel of the fire, did you?"

Remus was referring to when Bertha Jorkins eagerly asked Sirius whether he and Kate really spent the night in some broom cupboard. At first Sirius vehemently denied the accusation, but upon realizing how more Kate's reputation would be tarnished, he changed his mind and told Bertha otherwise.

"That just proves that Nolan's evil, like I've been saying all along," said Sirius. "Just because I didn't do anything to stop some stupid rumor, that bint overreacts by trying to put a love potion on me? She might as well try some dark magic on me."

Sirius was, for an inexplicable, satisfied and relieved to have yet another reason to hate Kate; she was a trifling schemer, like some despicable Slytherin.

"Speaking of her deflowering," said Peter. "People keep asking. What should we tell them?"

"I say, keep the trend up," said Sirius. "Let them think me and Nolan_ bumped uglies_, as Merle Lucas so eloquently put it."

While Peter laughed heartily at the idea, James stood over Sirius' bed to give him a solemn look.

"You're not really going to let people think that?" said James.

"Oh no, Mum!" said Sirius, annoyed that James seemed to disapprove, when it was Remus who usually disapproved. "It's not as if Nolan deserves it... Hang on, yes, she does deserve! Prongs, aren't you supposed to take my side on this?"

"You didn't see her face though," said James. "When you gave her the journal back. She was looking upset, and she even asked me if you'd be okay."

"She's faking," said Sirius coldly. "That's what she does. She manipulates people into thinking that she has a heart, which she doesn't." Inexplicably, Sirius' thoughts wondered back to the scene by the lake, when Kate demanded her journal be turned; there had been a glint of hidden vulnerability to her eyes, a glint that still lingered with Sirius.

"Could we please stop talking about Nolan?" snapped Sirius. "I'm sick of hearing her name."

"I like her name," said Peter innocently. "It's pretty, in a plain way, like her... _Kate Nolan_." He smiled.

* * *

"Kate Nolan, tell me what's wrong or I'll scream!" Alice said.

Kate shook her head and said in a defeated sort of voice, "I'm fine, Alice. Stop bringing it up."

"No, you're not fine! You've been sulking all morning."

Leah nodded in agreement. "It is quite annoying."

"Nothing's wrong," said Kate, too tired to think of something more clever to say. "Have you guys seen Merle around?"

Lily spoke up, "She's in the dorms, I think. See you around?"

"Yeah."

Kate left the courtyard they had been standing at, heading for the Gryffindor girls dormitory. When she entered, Kate found Merle sprawled out on one of the beds with a copy of Witch Weekly open.

"Merle?"

"Yes?"

Kate sat down on the edge of Merle's bed, her arms crossed self-consciously.

"You're the only person I know who's brutally honest, as sad as that is. Can I ask you something?"

"Hmm."

"Am I mean?"

For a moment, Merle stared at Kate with a blank, almost curious expression on her face. Merle eventually set down the copy of Witch Weekly.

"Kate. I love you, but you're a heartless troll."

Not expecting such a blatantly hurtful answer, Kate's immediate response was to go on the defensive.

"Oh honestly, I am not that bad! Right?"

"It's not anything to be ashamed of," assured Merle. "Look at it this way - us Gryffindor girls are _supposed_ to be mean, it's out lot in life. Mary Macdonald spits on people; Leah Jacobs holds long-winded grudges. It's just what we do, since nobody else has the guts to do it."

"What about Lily, she's a perfect angel."

"Sure," nodded Merle. "But if you haven't noticed, she's got a bit of a temper."

"What about me?"

Merle grinned at Kate, "You're my favorite mean one, because you don't even _know_ that you're malevolent."

"But - but I don't spit on people like Mary and I don't hold grudges like Leah, so what's the problem?!"

"It's not really a problem," said Merle assuring. "It's just... you_ nitpick_ at_ everything_, and you criticize nearly anyone you encounter."

Kate thought hard about this for a moment. Kate knew that she was a little too sardonic at times, but she didn't think it bothered anyone else. But the nitpicking thing...

Merle started proving her points through examples.

"Remember the time you told Bertram Aubrey about a spell that could fix his crooked nose?"

"Yes, but I was only trying to help him look more normal."

"It only made him feel self conscious. Or the time when you were tutoring Peter Pettigrew to help him with OWLs; you got so fed up that you just proclaimed in front of _everyone_ how hopeless Peter was. Funny, but cruel."

"It wasn't cruel!" said Kate defensively. "Pettigrew deserved what he got, he has the intelligence level of a third year..."

Kate froze, realizing that Merle was right. _She was criticizing_.

"Oh bugger, I _am_ mean!"

Merle nodded in sympathy.

"But it's the truth though," said Kate. "Isn't that what people want to hear, the truth?"

"Not necessarily. They'd much rather hear the abridged version of the truth, and then figure it out for themselves. Of course, I really don't care for the 'abridged version' that's just nonsense in Merle terms...

"Oh, and while we're on the subject of you, you're a bit stuck up and prudish. I still love you though."

Kate felt like crying at that moment. How did she become so mean-spirited? When Kate was a little girl, she couldn't even kill an ant in cold blood. Now at age sixteen, she regularly tore down the self-esteems of those around her, not to mention the amount of insects she's mercilessly killed in Potions class.

Kate felt the sudden urge to apologize to everyone she hurt. She wanted to hug Merle for all those implied jokes that Merle belonged in St. Mungo's. She wanted to tell Remus that it didn't matter whether he was a crappy prefect because he was a much better friend and that's all that mattered. She was even willing to tell Pettigrew that he was brilliant for his determination, he was only a slow learner at things.

But the strangest and most unwanted urge was the need to apologize to Sirius Black for the things she said, no matter how true they rung.

Her reverie broke when Lily swept into the dormitory. At the sight of Lily, Kate remembered the time she had said that Lily made a crappy best friend. _What was she thinking_?

Kate leapt up and wrapped her arms around Lily's shoulders. "You're the perfect best friend - and I don't deserve you!"

"Er, okay?" said Lily, confused but nonetheless flattered. "Merle, what did you do to her?"

As Kate pulled away to exit the dormitory, she heard Merle say, "Nothing, I just told her what she needed her."

* * *

**AN**: This chapter was meant to be a lot longer but frankly, I'm not sure how I'm going to approach the upcoming scenes I planned.

Even if you hated this chapter (which I suspect will happen since it wasn't as exciting), it was still useful, as Kate finally got some redemption. This chapter is also supposed to be a set up for the next chapter, which I plan on being DRAMATIC and TEAR-INDUCING. Yea, it's kind of exciting.

**REPLIES TO ANON**:

**marriannavdbilt**: Wow, you are too sweet. I'm so happy to hear that you like Kate's "brilliantly crafted psyche" because I put a lot of work in trying to make her flawed and believable. And for some reason you bringing up "If Nolan batted an eyelash" line happier. Thank you, thank you!

**Eugenia**: Why thank you, I'm glad my story has "rhythm" (whatever that means. Mind explaining it to me? lol).

**rachelray**: I was laughing while I was writing that chapter, it was seriously difficult just to stop making spasms at the keyboard while I was writing Remus kissing her. I mean sure, if you're under a love potion you'll be a bit out of your mind and do things unexpected, but Remus just snogging her is still crazy.

**HarleyQ**: I am seriously loving your essay reviews, keep 'em coming. It's good you think Sirius is in character, that's entirely what I intend! You have no idea how happy that makes me when people tell me that my Sirius characterization is spot in. He is my fav character, and I hate it HATE IT when Sirius is constantly butchered in fan fiction. He's either too womanizing or too pre-pubusent or a lethal combination of both. In my mind he is an oddly lovable arse, just the way I want it!  
And ohmygod it got a Pride and Prejudice comparison, AWESOME! And Skate, lmao. I was planning on going with Kirius but I like Skate a lot more. Keep on keepin' on the bleeding essays, I love those.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

* * *

"... I'm sorry for saying that you're hopeless and that you have the intelligence of a third year," said Kate, sighing at the great relief of coming clean.

Peter smiled appreciatively. "Apology accepted... Wait, you said I have the intelligence of a third year? I don't remember that!"

"Oh, well, I sort of said that behind your back the other day." At the look of dejection on Peter's face, Kate hastily added, "Then I realized just how very wrong I was. I didn't realize just how admirable you are for your determination to learn things!"

Kate wasn't sure how much of this she believed. Every time she saw Peter in class, he was either staring at his friends or sleeping. Peter seemed to buy into it, though, because another smile lit his chubby face. Kate patted him awkwardly on the shoulder.

"Glad we got that out of the way. So, do you know where your friends are?" she asked.

"Oh, all over the castle."

"More specifically, do you know where Sirius is," said Kate, feeling awkward. A light blush rose up her neck when she saw Peter raise her eyebrows at her.

"I think he's hanging out by the lake again."

"He seems to do that a lot," said Kate. "Thanks, Peter."

"Welcome."

Kate swept passed the Gryffindor and headed for the lake. She had already made her rounds with the others, apologizing to Bertram Aubrey in the Great Hall, Remus Lupin in the library, to Rosalind Hart (a Hufflepuff she had called uncouth) in a corridor.

Kate had saved Sirius Black for last, because Sirius was the one who made her feel most guilty. He had been the last person she "wronged". Kate also suspected that she would have a longer time stumbling for an apology with Sirius. She could never admit this, but sometimes Sirius made her nervous, between his coolness and his mood swings, Kate could never predict what kind of reaction she would get out of him. Kate was also unsure what she was going to say to Sirius, besides, 'Sorry for being a bitch to you.' Even if the things she said to him were hurtful, she still found them to be true. Sirius was a bully, and she had yet to find Sirius to be remorseful for his actions, for all the times he'd tormented a Slytherin only because they were Slytherin.

She strolled through a courtyard of the castle, admiring the beautiful sunlight that streamed down. She was glad that the weather was warmly ideal for a day like today, it gave her a renewed sense of confidence and optimism.

That confidence, however, depleted when she tried to pass through two pillars in the courtyard. Four Ravenclaw girls near the pillars turned around and blocked the entrance way. A sinking feeling passed through Kate's stomach. The Ravenclaws didn't look too friendly.

"Well, if it isn't Kate Nolan," said an orange-haired girl who Kate recognized as Bella Roth. "Where you headed in such a hurry?"

"Excuse me," said Kate, trying to get through.

"Goin' to see your boyfriend, are you? Oh, wait, he's not even that - he's just the guy who shagged you."

Kate's face burned with anger and embarrassment. It took all of her self control not to throw a cruel retort back at Bella, to remind Bella of that harsh rumor that spread last year of her snogging Severus Snape.

When the other girls giggled with Bella, Kate lost her patience and forcefully pushed through the gang. She didn't think that the rumor of her and Sirius would earn her cruel taunts. She didn't even think the rumor would spread this badly.

Kate quickly strode down the green lawn of Hogwarts, trying not to let the Ravenclaws girls defer her mission. She approached the Hogwarts lake, and found that Sirius was leisurely lying under the same beach tree that he always had. Remus was with him. As Kate got nearer, she resisted the urge to smile - Sirius seemed so at peach at that moment, staring up into the clear blue sky.

Kate stopped right above Sirius, casting a shadow over him. Sirius scowled and his eyes clouded with hostility once he saw that it was Kate. Already she was feeling dejected about the whole thing, but she had to go through with this, for the sake of her conscious.

"What?" said Sirius coldly.

"I came here to speak with you, about a serious matter."

Kate glanced at Remus, and he took the hint. Kate had already apologized to Remus earlier that day, and he had been surprised when it had happened, then good-naturedly rambled on about how he deserved Kate's criticism anyway because even he thought of himself as a poor prefect.

However, just as Remus was about to stand up, Sirius grabbed him by the sleeve and yanked him back toward the ground.

"No need, Remus. Whatever Nolan has to say, _she can say it in front of everyone_!"

Sirius had intentionally yelled the last part, for all the lounging students nearby to hear. His little outburst had worked-people were glancing over at their shoulders to watch the exchange between Kate and Sirius.

Kate refrained from getting annoyed, and said, "It's a private matter, though," in a calm, quiet voice.

"Nolan, you're lucky that I'm even willing to listen," he said harshly. "You're not exactly on the top of my priority list right now."

Kate took in a deep breath. She should have known that Sirius would make this harder for her than it had to be. He was still angry.

"Oh, don't mind them," said Sirius, glancing at the people who were openly watching them. He raised his voice. "They're just curious bystanders, awaiting the next chapter of our little romantic adventures."

A flash of anger set in Kate, as she remembered the rude Ravenclaws from earlier. She glared around at the crowd, hoping to make them look away with the intensity of her stare. It didn't work, and some students even stood up to walk closer in order to hear.

"I don't know how that rumor got so out of hand, but it needs to stop. People really think that we were... together."

Sirius only grinned evilly then stood up to lean against the tree.

"That's so typical of you, Nolan, to try to deny what happened," he said loudly.

Kate froze, staring at him in confusion. Then when an outbreak of curious whispers admitted from the watchers, she understood. Sirius was fueling the rumor on purpose, to torment her.

"Look, I know what you're doing, and I want you to stop it," she said quietly.

"Stop what?" he said challengingly. "You're the one whose trying to cover up what we did. I have nothing to be ashamed of."

The whispers were growing like wildfire, and more and more people were standing to hover around Kate and Sirius in a circle. Remus tried to whisper to Sirius that what he was doing was wrong, but Kate couldn't help but lose her temper. Here she was trying to apologize to this git, even trying to be civil toward him, and he was making things worse.

"I can't believe you!" said Kate, forgetting that people were even watching. She was so pissed at Sirius that moment, that all the frustration toward him came outpouring at that moment. "I came here with the intention of apologizing to you for those things I said, and here you are trying to ruin me and for what? Because I said some unfriendly things? Why don't you stop spreading lies, Black? I never had sex with you, so stop letting people on to think I did!"

"Well, that's a total load of shit!" said Sirius. His sarcastic demeanor had vanished, now he was just as full of anger as she was. "You expect me to actually believe you came here to apologize? Ha!"

"I did! As hard as it is to believe, I actually felt guilty for what I said earlier! But now that I look back at it, now I don't feel so guilty, everything I said was true!"

This seemed to incite his fury even more. "You're pathetic, you know that, Nolan? You're just pissed because I was the one who popped your cherry."

A wave of "oohs" broke out amongst the forming crowd. This is exactly what he wanted, to ruin her reputation, make her seem impure. Kate blinked back forming tears in her eyes. Everything was going the exact opposite way she planned, and Sirius was being _pigheaded_ because he didn't realize that she was trying to be sincere.

Sirius was about to open his mouth for another insult.

"_Shut up!_" Kate screeched, feeling the strong urge to punch Sirius.

"Would anybody like to know what she was like in bed? It wasn't very good-"

"I said SHUT _UP_!"

The following happened so fast that not even the passerby knew what was happening. Kate whipped out her wand, with the intention of placing a Silencing Charm on Sirius to literally shut him up, but Sirius mistook her actions as those fighting intentions. He reached for his own wand and they simultaneously shouted:

"_Silencio_-"

"_Locomotor Motis!_"

Beams of light shot out of their wands and tangled with each other, but the ferocity of Sirius's hex eventually won out.

However, before the leg-locker hex could hit Kate, she shouted, "_Protego!_" and a white shield protruded in front of her.

Sirius laughed mockingly. "Coward!"

That hit a nerve. No matter how reserved or mousy Kate appeared to be, she was a _Gryffindor_, through and through.

"Fine," she said fiercely. "If it's war you want..."

With the flick of her wand, the shield fell and she was ready to duel with Sirius Black.

"_Expelliarm-_" she began, but Sirius, being the talented wizard he was, was a tad too fast for her.

"_Impedimenta!_" he shouted, and Kate fell backward into the patch of grass. She was going to have to be quicker and step up her game if she wanted to win this.

"_Stupefy!_" she yelled, but he narrowly dodged the hex and silently sent another one her way.

A white light flashed out of his wand and Kate felt a force lift her upside down- she was hanging in the air by an ankle. Kate _hated_ this hex, it had been popularized and overused by the Marauders last year. She felt blood rush to her face as the crowd applauded and cheered; although her skirt was stiff enough to stay put, her untucked white blouse fell over her face, exposing her bare skin and bra to everyone.

"Nothing I haven't seen before," said Sirius snidely, causing some of the people to laugh.

Kate was relieved that her wand was still tightly clutched in her hand. Though upside down, she still had a good aim of Sirius and, vengefully, said, "You've got a dirty mouth, Black. _Scourgify!_"

Soap bubbles started out of Sirius's mouth, causing him to gag. Kate used the opportunity to use the countercurse to Levicorpus, landing in a heap in the grass. Once Sirius had spit out the last of the soap in his mouth, Kate ducked behind a nearby tree just as Sirius hurled another hex at her.

"_Confringo!_" Sirius yelled, setting the tree on fire.

Kate jumped away from the tree and faced Sirius. A series of lights jetted back and forth between Sirius and Kate, and the crowd moved out of the way accordingly - the duel was getting a lot more intense than planned. Most had expected Sirius to win out in seconds, only because they'd always seen Sirius win in wand fights with other students, and Kate always avoided them. But now Kate's mind was buzzing with fury, and she was using all the spells she had learned over the years, even one she hadn't practiced.

After Kate conjured a snake using _Serpensortia_, Sirius set the serpent on fire. In retaliation, Sirius had nailed her with a hex which caused her to walk backwards, away from the duel.

Because she wasn't familiar with the hex and didn't know a countercurse, Kate didn't know what to do as her legs propelled her backward, through the sea of watching bystanders. Eventually, Kate fell backwards, having met the Hogwarts's lake.

"Ah!" she let out a yelp of defeat just before she hit the water.

Even after falling in, Kate could hear applause above the water from the crowd, congratulating Sirius on winning the duel. Kate felt disheartened at that moment-she had lost, and apparently everyone had thought Sirius had been a victory well deserved, everyone was on _his_ side. Kate felt the urge to stay underwater at that moment, not resurface, just so she wouldn't have to face the crowd of students that apparently hated her. But after a few seconds without air, Kate gave in and swam upward, breaking the surface of the water.

She gasped for breath, and felt a shadow fall over her. Sirius was at the edge of the lake, looking down as Kate paddled around the water.

"Looks like I won, Nolan. Unsurprisingly."

Kate really wanted to strangle Sirius at that moment, or just wanted to keep hurling hexes at him just for the hell of it, just so he could feel as badly as she did. Before Kate could come up with a retort to Sirius' smug victory rant, she felt something sharp tug at her ankle and looked down at the water.

To Kate's shock and dread, she saw pale green underwater creatures swarming around her floating feet. _Grindylows_.

In panic, Kate was about to reach for the shore and pull herself out of the water, but the Grindylows had taken hold of her feet and were pulling her in. Kate let out one last yelp of panic before the Grindylows completely pulled her under, into the depths of the Hogwarts lake.

* * *

**AN**- Yes, even I'm shocked that I'm effing back. I honestly thought I was done with this story. But after reading a lengthy review (courtesy of Kiku-Ai, you have her to think for metaphorically getting me off my ass) I decided I just might try to pick this story up again. My opinion hasn't really changed - although it's an amusing read, I'm still annoyed with certain aspects of this story.

To Kiku-Ai, thank you. I was in the middle of writing a reply to your review, and in the reply I decided to write down a small outline of how the story would have ended. Then, as I got to writing that outline, I remembered how much fun I had writing the fan fic and how close I was to actually completing this story.

So now, I'm back, and even though I hate parts of this fic, I thought to myself _dammit I'm gonna finish this thing_. Yeah.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 14

* * *

"Where is she?"

"What happened?"

"Something pulled her in!"

The crowd's chatter of concern only increased the sickening feeling in Sirius's stomach. Just moments earlier, everything had been going fine. Sirius had been flaunting his victorious defeat over Kate as she treaded in the Hogwarts lake. Sirius was surprised that Kate even took up the challenge of dueling with him, he was even expecting her to run away sobbing because of all the public humiliation he had served up. Admittedly she fought better than he could give credit, but in the end Sirius had won because of his years of experience and practice on other students.

But all those feelings of smugness and victory had vanished in an instant. The instant Kate was yanked under the lake by a mysterious force. Sirius's first reaction was to believe she was faking to gain sympathy, but after 30 seconds of waiting, he didn't feel so confident.

His eyes penetrated the green lake, searching for any sign of Kate. She had completely disappeared by then, and students were gathering around the edge.

"Know any spells?" breathed Remus next to him. "I'm afraid I don't."

Sirius racked his brain, trying to come up with any spells that would help Kate. But his mind was racing with fear, the fear of having accidentally caused Kate Nolan's death, the guilt of the transgressions earlier that day with her. He couldn't even remember what they had been arguing about, that's how worried he was.

Sirius glanced around the crowd, thinking someone had to know something.

"Does any body know any spells that could pull her out?" he asked to the general ten teenagers hanging around. He was met by a stunned silence. "Nobody?!"

"Someone should fetch a teacher!" yelped a fourth year.

"That won't be quick enough," said Sirius tersely.

After a moment, he lost his patience and started stripping off his robes. Soon, he was only in his boxers and shirt. Clutching his wand, Sirius dived into the lake and swam through the cold, green water.

His eyes opened and he scanned for any sign of Kate. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a flash of white. Turning his head, he could fully see Kate, struggling to shake off swarming Grindylows, looking weaker by the moment. Sirius was about to swim toward her when some Grindylows attacked him from behind. Sirius used his wand to nonverbally blast away the water creatures tugging at his feet.

By the time he got rid of the last Grindylow, Sirius glanced over and saw that Kate had passed out from a lack of oxygen. Sirius pointed his wand to the surrounding Grindylows by her and performed the same blasting spell. The Grindylows scattered and moved away. Sirius treaded deeper until he was able to grab her hand and then secure her by the waist.

Sirius then kicked as hard as he could - he needed air _now_ - and fought to reach the surface...

Finally, Sirius broke the surface, taking in a heavy breathe of fresh air. He didn't waste time though, the Grindylows were probably gaining on them. Sirius pulled Kate to the bank of the lake and pulled her out. Students surrounded them, buzzing with relief.

After Sirius placed the unconscious form of Kate on the mud of the bank, Remus made his way through the crowd, his wand out.

Remus leaned over Kate and said, "_Rennervate!_" the spell used to bring people back to consciousness. When nothing happened, Remus nervously performed the spell a second time.

After a moment of quiet, Kate's still form finally jumped to life - Kate's eyes sprung open and she leaned over to cough out lake water.

"You okay, Kate?"

"Alright, Nolan?"

All kinds of voices inquired, but she ignored them, still coughing up water from the lake. She was trying to remember what happened - she had been dueling with Black because he was being an arse, then she fell in the lake and - now she remembered, she almost _drowned_ because of the Grindylows! Kate felt her heart beat quicken - a sense of sadness and dread filled her stomach. Her life had nearly been endangered, she could have drowned, and all because Sirius had placed that stupid hex on her.

She was coughing up the last of the water from her throat when she heard the one voice that she did not want to hear, Sirius Black's voice:

"You're welcome, by the way."

Kate glanced up in shock. Sirius was sitting nearby, drenched in water, running a hand through his damp black hair. Kate didn't know what to say. Had Sirius just saved her?

At seeing Sirius again, Kate felt a flurry of emotions rush inside her - the angst at having nearly died, the rage she felt at Sirius for being the cause of her misery, and the fact that he'd been the one to rescue Kate had just catapulted her into a realm of confusion and mixed feelings.

Kate's eyes welled up with tears. That's how strongly she felt.

Before anyone else could say anything, Kate stood up, pushed through the crowd and quickly rushed away.

She heard Remus's voice, following behind her. "Kate, I really think you should see Madam Pomfrey." She ignored Remus, still walking away as quickly she could.

When she felt Remus tug at her arm, she roughly pulled away and shrieked, "Leave me alone!"

Even Kate didn't expect herself to respond that way, she had never really lost her composure this way. Her voice sounded like it was on the verge of sobbing and raging all at once. When Remus backed away, Kate ignored the stunned faces behind her and kept walking. She felt a single tear run down her face, and wiped it away.

* * *

When Kate entered her dormitory, she was annoyed to find that the only person inside was Mary Macdonald, the room mate that she hardly knew.

Mary was lying on her bed, twirling a lock of her blonde hair while flipping through a magazine, when Kate had suddenly burst in and slammed the door behind her. Kate fell on her bed and wrapped herself with her red blankets, uncaring of whether she was still soaked from the lake.

"Gross," said Mary. "Why are you dripping wet?"

Kate lifted her head, glaring at Mary. "Well," she said in a way that barely managed to conceal her tearful voice. "I was fishing near the lake when the Giant Squid suddenly attacked me."

Mary rolled her eyes. "Whatever, just don't get any water near my bed."

Kate then retreated so that her head was under the blanket. She was happy that Mary didn't decide to press the matter. That's what she loved about Mary, the girl minded her own business.

Around an hour later, Lily and Merle came into the dorms and surrounded Kate's bed, inquiring on what was going on.

"We just heard a bunch of rumors!" said Merle. "One where Sirius tried to drown you or something, and another where you tried to drown yourself after losing a duel to Sirius - ridiculous, I know. But-"

"It's not so ridiculous," said Kate, who had peaked her still wet head out of the blanket. "I mean about the duel part, not the suicide thing."

Lily and Merle gaped at Kate. "You and Black dueled?" said Lily, astounded. "Why would-that-well, only Black!" said Lily with a huff. "Only he'd be able to get that kind of reaction out of you. So what were you guys fighting about?"

Kate sniffed and said, "I'd rather not talk about it. In fact, I'd rather be alone right now. I mean, _really_ alone." She gave them meaningful looks.

"Oh, okay!" said Merle. She stood up from Kate's bed and said, "Alright everyone, get out!" she took it upon herself to usher the two other girls out of the dorm.

Mary made a scoffing noise to protest. "Ex_cuse_ me-" she began, but was cut off by Merle.

"OUT!"

"Fine," said Mary, exiting the dorm, grumbling as she did so. Lily flashed Kate a look of concern and was about to leave too, when Kate suddenly changed her mind.

"Except for you, Lil."

Lily grinned in relief and happiness, then hopped onto Kate's bed, ready to listen. Kate sat up in her bed.

"So what happened?"

Kate opened her mouth, but found herself lacking words. All the events of today flashed in her mind, and to her horror she found herself welling up in tears. Again. She let out one dry sob.

"My god, Kate!" Lily grabbed her wrist in comfort. "I haven't seen you cry since first year! Tell me, please."

Trying to contain herself from crying anymore, Kate continued in a weepy voice, and felt tears trickling down her face. "Well, as I said I was dueling Sirius. He hexed me so that I fell in the stupid lake, and then Grindylows pulled me under, and when I had almost drowned Sirius jumped in and saved my life!" By the middle of her rant, Kate had dissolved to sobbing again.

"Oh, poor girl," said Lily, bringing Kate in for a hug. "Good thing Sirius saved your life, didn't he?"

"That's the thing, Lily," sobbed Kate. "I - I don't know what to think! I don't know whether to thank him for rescuing me from the lake, or I should hate him for putting me there in the first place! How would you feel if your mortal enemy endangered your life and then saved it right afterward?"

"Really, Kate, I don't think he's your-"

"Yes, he is!" interrupted Kate. "If I didn't hate him before, I definitely loathe him now, for everything that's happened. I just don't know if I can take it anymore."

"What do you mean?" asked Lily fearfully.

"I don't know if I can even _deal _with him, what I'm going to say to him the next time I see him."

"Kate," Lily placed a loving hand on Kate's chin. "You're not obliged to do anything. If you want to thank him, then do it. If you want to loathe him for all eternity, then do it! No one will condemn you. If he dares says anything against you, that's his own fault, _not_ yours. Understand?"

Kate took in Lily's words, and after a minute felt immensely better. She _wasn't _obliged to do anything, after all.

"Thank you, Lily," sniffed Kate, wiping the tears off her face. "You've been so helpful."

After a moment of collecting herself, Kate finally stood up and grabbed a dirty sweater to use as a towel for her damp hair.

"So..." started Lily, watching Kate carefully. "What _are_ you going to do when you see Sirius?"

"I don't know yet," stated Kate truthfully, in a nasal voice. "I just hope to avoid him as long as possible. Or at least until my thoughts are straightened out on the matter."

Lily lightly chuckled. "That's a good idea. I've never seen you this emotional before. Whatever you do decide, I'll back you up one hundred percent."

* * *

James scanned all the people in the Great Hall, looking for his friends. He had just heard some bizarre story of how Kate Nolan had nearly drowned in the Hogwarts Lake, and somehow Sirius was involved with the story.

Finally, at the end of the Gryffindor table he spotted Remus and Sirius sitting in what looked to be a grave conversation. They weren't even eating the delicious lunch in front of them, that's how serious it apparently was.

James went and sat down across from Sirius and Remus.

"I'm hearing a lot of things around the school," said James, getting straight to the point. "What happened at the lake?"

Remus and Sirius exchanged meaningful glances, before they both simultaneously gave an answer. Sirius answered, "Nothing," while Remus said, "A lot."

Knowing that Sirius would try to conceal whatever happened, James looked to Remus for the truth. Remus filled him in on everything - the duel, the lake, how Sirius apparently rescued Kate, only for her to freak out and run off before anything could be said.

"So what are you expecting, a medal?" James asked Sirius after hearing the story.

"No," snapped Sirius. "Just a 'thank you' would do. I risked my neck saving her, and she just left without saying anything."

Both Remus and James sighed.

James spoke, "Mate, I know you think you did Nolan a favor, but honestly, think how she feels. She's probably not feeling too good after today's events. She nearly _died_ because of that duel. If I were her, I'd be cursing the piss out of you by now."

"What, and it's my fault that she went crazy and suddenly decided to duel me?" said Sirius, spitefully tearing a piece of bread apart.

"Don't even lie, Sirius," said Remus reproachfully. "Everyone who saw it knows you provoked her. By the looks of it, she was only going to place a Silent Spell on you, but you being hex-crazy took it as something else."

"Whatever," grumbled Sirius, having nothing else to defend himself with.

He thought he had made everything up to Kate by rescuing her from the lake, but apparently not. He was beginning to think his friends were right, but he would be the last person to ever admit it.

* * *

**AN-** Thank you, thank you to all the (MANY) reviewers. I've had an overwhelmingly positive response, so I'll definitely continue. So both Kate and Sirius are really confused about, well, EVERYTHING. Quite a complicated situation their in, it's gonna be interesting to see how it resolves.

Anyway, cheers :)


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

* * *

The next few days was like walking through a mundane haze for Kate. She never really paid attention to what was happening around her, as her mind was more focused on what life was like post-Lake Incident.

Kate spent the first night in her dorm, getting a house-elf named Em to bring her a spaghetti dinner. That night she dreamt nightmares of her drowning in the lake, but each nightmare varied with different people drowning along with her - Lily, her mother, Remus, and at one point even Sirius. On Sunday morning Kate ate breakfast silently as Merle and Leah cast curious glances over her direction (only to have Lily glare back in warning). She filled her time doing homework, then wrote a lengthy letter to her parents; menial tasks to keep her mind off Sirius Black. After watching James set off some fireworks outside (she remarked she would deal with him tomorrow) she spent Sunday evening reading a novel. Kate avoided falling asleep for as long as possible, she didn't want anymore dreams which involved drowning or Sirius Black.

The next morning, Merle cheerfully greeted Kate while dressing, "Ready for a new day of school?"

"Bite me," Kate couldn't help but say. Lily and Merle only grinned in response. They were probably relieved that Kate was slowly reclaiming her old sarcastic self back, as over the weekend they noticed their friend was going through some odd funk where she just wasn't herself.

After showering, dressing, then eating breakfast in the Great Hall, Kate headed for her classes. Kate was still rebounding from that strange weekend haze, so she felt more and more sick as she approached her potions class. It would be the first time seeing Sirius since Saturday.

"Good morning, Ms Nolan," greeted Professor Slughorn when Kate arrived. "Feeling alright, m'dear? Students have been telling me of an incident at the lake."

"I'm fine, professor," said Kate shortly. "Just a little water scare."

At first she had been weary of how quickly her name had been thrust into gossip circles around the school, but now she was used to it, and even relieved that they weren't mentioning the other rumor of her getting busy with Sirius anymore.

A few minutes later, the class was in session and Sirius hadn't shown up yet. Neither had James, leading Kate to believe the pair were off on another misadventure in the many corridors of Hogwarts. Sure enough, James and Sirius stumbled into class 30 minutes before it ended.

"Sorry we're late," said James in a very unapologetic manner. "We got caught up in, er, business."

While James stumbled for an explanation, Sirius took the time to gaze over at Kate. She met him with a just as equally cool, poker-face blank stare, refusing to look away. After ten seconds, Sirius was the one to cave in and look away. Once Slughorn had finally laughed at James's lame attempt at an excuse, both teenagers made their way to their seats. Kate made sure not to shift as Sirius sat next to her. She was resolute in not even acknowledging Sirius's presence.

"What page are we on?" asked Sirius, flipping through his potions book.

Kate gave no reply. She knew the answer was on the chalkboard. But Sirius didn't bother looking up at the chalkboard, and stared expectantly at Kate.

"Did you hear me, Nolan? What page?" he asked louder than before.

Kate just continued stirring in her cauldron. If this was going to work, she had to really refuse to speak with Sirius, keep up that icy English exterior that she had perfected over the years.

"Oh I see," said Sirius after several beats. He'd finally caught on. "So you're _ignoring_ me now. Very mature. I can't wait to tell my mates about this. Imagine the laugh they'll have, knowing that you ignoring me will have no effect whatsoever on myself."

Kate struggled not to break her vow of silence. She wanted to explain to Sirius that this wasn't a stupid guilt trip, that she was doing this to break off any communication with Sirius because she genuinely wanted to cut him out of her life.

Instead of opening her mouth though, Kate opted to leave the desk for an empty bottle in the potions cupboard. To her surprise and annoyance, Sirius followed her to the cupboard like some sort of puppy dog. Apparently he wasn't finished with his little rant. He continued speaking over her shoulder as she searched for an empty bottle.

"You should give it up, Nolan, it won't work on me. If anything, it'll only cause inconvenience in doing our potion assignments. Big deal. So you might as well stop now, before you make yourself look ridiculous."

Kate didn't know why Sirius would care if she looked ridiculous, it was her own business to shut him out. What did he expect anyway, for everything to go back to normal after what happened? Kate snatched a bottle at the back of the cupboard and returned to her seat. Behind her, she could hear Sirius make a noise at the back of his throat - from experience, Kate knew it was the noise he made when he was frustrated.

"Still on about this," said Sirius once he returned to her side. "Fine, have it your way, Nolan. Just know that I don't give a damn about whether you talk or not."

Kate felt like retorting that for someone who doesn't give a damn, he was flapping his big mouth about it a lot. But she stayed silent, and was incredibly proud of herself for it.

* * *

"What's going on between you two now?" asked James after class has ended. The four friends were now wandering in the hallway toward their next destination, Transfiguration. "I didn't hear any fighting of any kind, so clearly, there's something awry."

"Oh nothing," said Sirius moodily. His friends shot him curious glances. He'd meant to sound casual, but it came out embittered. "Literally, nothing happened. She said nothing."

"At all?" asked Peter.

"At all. She wouldn't even open her mouth to tell me the page number we were on."

James whistled in astonishment. "The silent treatment, ouch. Didn't expect that from, Nolan."

"You're joking, right?" said Sirius. "This is the best thing that could happen to me! Here I was expecting some big verbal confrontation between myself and Nolan, only to find that she doesn't have anything to say. It's such a relief not to hear her voice berating me for once. It's perfect."

"I don't know," said Remus, frowning. "I think you're underestimating the harshness of the cold shoulder. My mum has only ignored my dad once in her life, and that was when I was - " he lowered his voice - "you know, bitten. She blamed Dad because he'd been the one who offended the werewolf who went after me."

"I know what you mean," added James. "Remember the end of fifth year, Snape called Evans that horrid name? She didn't speak to me or Snape for the rest of the year."

Even Peter had some experience with the cold shoulder.

"Mum ignored me for three whole days once," said Peter. Not noticing the strange looks he was being sent, he added, "Either that or she just forgot that I was living in the house."

"Look," sighed Sirius. "You guys can think whatever you want. I don't care whether Nolan's cold shouldering me. And I never will."

* * *

Sirius had lied. It wasn't the first time, usually he concealed his personal life from his friends. Remus and Peter hadn't known Sirius hated his family until third year, and even then would he seldom brought it up. He just didn't feel comfortable talking about his home life, generally because he felt his was more dysfunctional that what his friends dealt with.

This time, rather than lying about his family, Sirius was lying about Kate Nolan. The truth was, it really did bother him that Kate was ignoring him. Not because he especially loved hearing her voice, but because he wanted to know what in the hell she was thinking. She was probably even more disgusted with Sirius, but he wanted confirmation of this.

By the end of the week, it unnerved him how much it still bothered him. He finally made a plan to provoke Kate into speaking to him again, and decided he would have a lot of fun while doing it.

Sirius used the Marauder's Map to locate Kate, and found her sitting in the library across from Frank Longbottom. Sirius found this odd, as he rarely saw Kate and Frank interact with each other, let alone study together. Ignoring the feeling of annoyance toward Frank, Sirius headed for the library. He was happy to see Frank packing up his things and leaving when he got there. Frank flashed Kate a smile and waved. Sirius decided he could use this against Kate.

"So, Nolan," said Sirius. He took the seat across Kate, where Frank had been sitting moments before. He sat back on the chair's hind legs, knowing this would peeve Kate. "You and Schlongbottom seemed to be getting cozy. I hope your not considering dating him, not after having made love to me. You'd break my poor heart."

Sirius expected a reaction. Kate was particularly touchy on that sex rumor spawned between the two. Yet, to his surprise, Kate had only raised a cool eyebrow at Sirius then gazed down at the textbook opened in front of her.

"What will you two do on your date? Talk about how great it is to be a prefect?"

Silence.

Sirius was already running out of things to say, and resorted to idle chat.

"Don't mind if I chat your ear off. I tend to do that. Some say I'm like Mercutio, I like the sound of my own voice. You should hear James, though. Don't get him started on Quidditch, or Evans, because he would not shut up about either one. The people I really hate are the quiet ones. Who do they think they are, not speaking to anyone? Don't they know that they're just socially inept idiots who are doomed to spawn children who are just as quietly miserable?"

"Excuse ME!" another voice cut in. Madam Pince, the librarian, glared down at Sirius through beedy eyes. "This is NOT a lounge! Either read a book or get out!"

"Fine, you old bat," said Sirius, randomly grabbed a book off a nearby shelf.

Madam Pince gasped, not impressed at being called an old bat. "That's IT, Black, get out! I never want to see you in this library again!"

"Fine, I never come here anyway!" retorted Sirius indignantly. As he was pushed out of the library by Pince, he glanced once more at Kate, and with pleasure noted that she was fighting back a smile of amusement.

"At least I got her to smile," grumbled Sirius to himself once he was out in the hallway. "Progress."


	15. Chapter 15

**AN-** This chapter may be a little racy for the *ahem* alcohol usage. But believe me, it gets a lot worse in the next chapter.

* * *

Chapter 15

* * *

Kate, Lily and Merle were sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, all doing homework. Well, Lily and Kate did their homework, Merle was enjoying an early Easter basket of candy sent by her parents.

"It's like your parents don't even realize you're sixteen," remarked Kate, watching as Merle broke a chocolate bunny ear off and swallowed it. "If they're still sending you Easter baskets."

"Well, they have to make it up to me somehow, since during our Easter holiday they're making me stay at my grandparents' home in the Netherlands."

"What's wrong with the Netherlands?" asked Lily.

"Nothing, if you love bicycles!" bit back Merle. Lily and Kate stared at Merle. "Don't look at me like I'm mental! Kate's the one whose giving Sirius Black the silent treatment."

"What's so mental about that?" said Kate.

"Oh nothing, just that it's completely pointless and stupid. Black won't feel a smudge of guilt. If anything, he'll be happy that you're not speaking to him."

"I'm not ignoring Black to get back at him," explained Kate. "I'm doing it because I really, really, _really_ just don't want to talk to him. Hopefully he'll stop talking back at me, and soon we'll have very little to do with each other. Then I'll finally be at peace."

"Well good luck ignoring Black's fat mouth," said Lily. "I don't know how long that'll last. He's clearly got a vendetta to crack your silence."

"I know," sighed Kate.

She thought back to every potions class for the last two weeks. Nearly half of them had been filled with Sirius incessantly talking, making obnoxious or rude comments, trying to draw some sort of reaction out of Kate.

"He keeps bringing up Frank for some reason," Kate told her friends. "I don't know why. By now he's had to realize that bringing up my love life doesn't work."

"Has it ever occurred to you that he's jealous?" suggested Merle.

"Has it ever occurred to you to shut up?" replied Kate. "I'm sick of hearing these bizarre theories on Black fancying me."

"Speaking of the devil," said Lily. "Here comes his best friend."

James sat down next to Merle, across Kate and Lily. "Hullo," he smiled in a charming way. "I have some invitations for you lovely ladies."

Lily scoffed. "Why are you in such a good mood?"

"Because seeing you just sends me into a frenzy of giddiness," said James glibly. "Just take the paper, Evans." He handed each girl an invitation. "Easter holiday, my parents are hosting a party at my _mansion_. I'm inviting some Hogwarts students along so that I'm not the only teenager around."

"You want us to come?" said Lily dryly. "No can do, Potter. I'm busy that night."

"Me too, sorry," said Merle, handing the invitation back to James.

"Let me guess," said James, addressing Kate. "You don't want to go because you're just anti-social."

"Am I that transparent?"

"Just keep the invitations anyway, okay?" said James, pushing back the rejected invitations. "In case one of you changes your mind. On Saturday night, 8 PM, the invitations turn into portkeys which'll take you to my house."

"Fine," said Lily. "You can go away now."

"Snippy," said James, smirking at Lily, before strolling away from the Gryffindor table.

Merle turned toward Kate and Lily with an accusing look. "Exactly what are your reasons for not going, pre tell?"

"Er, because it's _Potter_," said Lily as though that were reason enough.

"Let me get this straight," said Merle. "You're telling me that you'd both rather sit on your arses Saturday night rather than attend a party hosted by a wealthy family of wizards? That's it, I'm out." Merle abruptly stood up. "I can't bear hanging out with you sticks in the mud any longer. See you."

"You were distracting us anyway," said Kate. "What with that delicious aroma of chocolate floating around you."

After Merle had left, Lily had turned to Kate before she could return back to her Astronomy homework.

"Who would want to go to Potter's stupid party anyway?" said Lily, frowning.

"I know, it's absurd that he even asked us, when he knows we don't like him," agreed Kate.

"Exactly, it would be a waste of time. Potter would probably ruin the night with his... stupid antics and his messy hair."

"Right," said Kate, looking back down at her Astronomy homework. "So it's settled, we're not going."

"Definitely not."

Kate began filling out the star chart in front her. After scribbling down the name "Lyra" and "Vega", though, Lily suddenly interrupted her reverie.

"Plus, that party would take a lot of last minute preparation," rambled Lily. "A lot of work that I don't want to deal with during _my_ holiday."

"You know, for someone who isn't going to that party, you seem to be talking about it a lot."

"What are you implying?"

"That you, Lily Evans, want to go to James Potter's party."

Lily scoffed. "As if! No."

"Fine," said Kate idly. "I mean, if you did want to go, I'd attend with you."

Lily gasped like an excited little girl. "You would?"

"Well yeah, I don't want my best friend going stag to some party. So if you are going, then count me in-"

"Well if you insist that I go!" said Lily happily. "Merle's right, it would be pathetic if we stayed home! There are bound to be loads of cute boys running around - yes, and dancing and food, and music-"

"Yeah," said Kate, staring at Lily strangely. "Lily, are you feeling alright? You seem a bit wonky about attending this party."

"Oh, it's just I've never been to a magical party before, aside from the ones Slughorn's had."

"Sorry to break it to you, but they're all the same," said Kate, but Lily wasn't paying attention.

"We'll definitely need to go dress shopping next Hogsmeade trip. Hey, I bet you'll be able to return that medieval dress from Halloween for a refund, that'll rack in a large sum of money!"

"... Sure."

* * *

"I am _not_ wearing _that_."

"Why?" asked Lily, holding up a violet-colored dress. "It's pretty, and it will match your complexion!"

"It's too short!" said Kate. "It's above my knees!"

"Oh Kate, don't be such a prude!" complained Lily. "You will look gorgeous in it, trust me. I am not returning this dress so just accept it and deal." Lily thrust the dress at Kate.

"I knew I should have gone with you, and not trust you to buy me a dress by yourself with my 20 galleons." Kate sighed, sitting on her bed in defeat. "Anyway, what's your dress like?"

"See for yourself," said Lily, pulling a green dress out of the bag. She held up an emerald, sleeveless dress up to her mirror. "What do you think?"

"I think you'll look like Tinker Bell," said Kate, grinning. "But that's not a bad thing!" she hastily added at the look of horror on Lily's face. "Tinker Bell is a very cute, sexy, beautiful fairy."

"Good," said Lily, glancing at the watch on her wrist. "Oh crap, it's nearly 8 o'clock. Quick, throw that on. Don't worry about the hair and makeup and everything, because I know a tricky spell."

Lily was true to her word, because after Kate and Lily had put their dresses and heels on, Lily waved her wand several times, with several successes. While Lily had done her red hair up in a french braid, Kate's black hair fell in tiny ringlets around her face.

"Good lord, Lily," said Kate, closing in on their mirror. "I actually look like a babe!"

"I think we're ready," said Lily, smirking. "Oh, look, it's glowing!" She pointed at the invitations sitting on Lily's bedside. "Those must be the portkeys."

Both Lily and Kate grabbed their invitations and were instantly transported to Potter Manor. After walking through a corridor where other witches and wizards were arriving through portkey, Kate and Lily made their way to the main hall of the house, where the party was being held.

The manor was was lit with a beautiful blue lighting, with velvet and gold draping the background walls. An ornate chandelier was hanging in the middle of the hall, emitting colors of all kinds. Chairs and food tables flanked near the walls, drawing a diverse crowd of guests, mostly adults. The music playing was light and romantic.

"That must be Potter's dad," said Lily, pointing out an older man who looked uncannily like James, with the same glasses and messy hair.

Kate listened in on what James's father was discussing with a pair of his guests. "We were planning on hiring a band but they fell through the last second. Dorea thought we ought to find another one, but I ended up buying a pair of Muggle speakers - they're just as well!"

Lily grinned. "Potter told me that his dad loves experimenting with Muggle technology instead of relying on magic. He wasn't lying. Ooh, champaign!"

As Lily grabbed a glass of champaign off a nearby floating tray, Kate asked, "Are you sure that's a good idea, Lily? We're underage, what if we're caught drinking?"

"I don't think you'll have to worry," cut in James's voice. He wad dressed in charming beige dress robes, though despite looking very gentlemanly, his hair was still sticking up at odd ends.

"What makes you say that?" asked Kate.

"My parents are a bit lax on the rules," explained James. "They're not about to kick out a couple of teenaged guests because they're drinking. Help yourself. Merlin knows Sirius already has."

James pointed toward the dance floor, and sure enough Kate and Lily were treated to seeing a drunken version of Sirius. The handsome Gryffindor was swaying drunkenly on the floor, carrying an entire bottle of wine in hand. Soon after, Sirius got into a quarrel with one of the guests after cutting in on a dance between a couple.

"Why am I not surprised?" asked Lily, sounding on the verge of laughter.

While Kate would have normally found this comical, lately she wasn't too amused with anything that had to do with Sirius. Hastily, Kate grabbed a glass of champaign off the tray and took three large gulps before Lily interfered.

"Whoa, slow down!" Lily put a hand on the glass. "You don't want to drink yourself silly, you'll end up like Black over there."

"Hey Evans?" asked James, reaching into his rocket. "Before you take off and have a frivolously good time at my parents party... I got you something."

"You got me a... Easter day present. Why?" asked Lily skeptically.

"Actually, I bought it last month as a birthday gift, until I realized that I didn't know your actual birthday."

Lily looked like she was going to smile. "It's January 30th, so you're only a few months late." She opened the little box James had handed her.

"Thanks for remembering to get _me_ something," said Kate, though she wasn't at all upset, knowing James was practically in love with Lily.

"Actually, I did get you something, Nolan," said James teasingly. "Here it is, more booze, drink up." He tipped the champaign glass to Kate's lips, and she had to gulp it so that the drink wouldn't overflow.

"I don't know what to say," said Lily awkwardly. She had lifted an ornate necklace from its case. The necklace had a golden lily for its hanging piece. Suddenly, Lily turned to James and accusingly asked, "How much was this? It had to be a fortune!"

"Evans, relax. Have you forgotten that my parents are filthy rich?" James grinned at her. "Anyway, you are welcome. Enjoy the party." He nodded in salute to the girls and strode off to greet some older guests.

Lily shook her head, and looked down at the necklace in her hand. "Can't believe him... He's always so..." Lily trailed off, unable to think of a word to describe James.

"Lily, can I say something?"

"Shoot."

Kate roughly grabbed Lily by the shoulders in a serious manner.

"I know James is really flawed and he bullied your ex-best-friend, but... You're not children anymore, Lily. He's not the schoolyard bully you remember him as. I think that underneath, James is a really nice guys and that you should give him a chance at least. Because this unrequited love business is getting really tiresome. There. Go ahead and hate me now."

As Kate finished, she took her hands off Lily's shoulders and waited. Lily was staring pensively at Kate, actually pondering her words. Eventually, Lily blinked hard and had this to say.

"You know, you're right."

"I am?" Kate was surprised.

"I should give him a chance. A sort of _test drive_ if you will. If tonight he manages to impress me, then, we'll see. But before that can happen..."

Lily took a glass champagne and chugged half of it down. Then, placing the half-empty glass on the tray, she nodded resolutely at Kate and stalked away, in search of James's direction.

Kate's eyes followed with rapt attention; Lily approached James at an inopportune moment, when he was speaking with his parents. After James awkwardly introduced them, in what Kate was sure to be an awkward conversation ensuing, Lily then asked James to dance and he gleefully accepted. Both teenagers headed for the dance floor as a lighthearted rock song came on. A sense of deep joy fell over Kate, watching them. She didn't know why, she just felt like James and Lily made a wonderful pairing.

A few minutes later, Remus tapped Kate on the shoulder.

"Is the whole gang here?" said Kate over the music. "Where's Peter?"

"He got really lucky tonight," said Remus, grinning and tucking his hands into his pockets. "As of now, Peter's snogging a witch who attends private school in Germany."

"Good for him."

Kate waited for Remus to ask the unavoidable. With crimson pouring his normally pale cheeks, Remus offered Kate a hand and she took it. They both made it to the dance floor.

"Is that James with Lily?" asked Remus, astonished. Kate nodded while placing her hands on his shoulders.

"That was pretty much my doing," said Kate, glancing over her shoulder at James and Lily dancing. "It didn't take much convincing, all she needed was a little push in the right direction."

"They seem to be enjoying themselves for the most part."

"Yeah, I am too," admitted Kate, smiling at Remus. "I thought this party would be a bummer, but..."

"Sirius is having a ball as well," said Remus. "He got himself into a minor fight after hitting on some girl."

"I know, I saw it," Kate suddenly turned sober with the subject of Sirius being brought up.

She tried to quickly think of something else to say, and luckily she was saved through the distraction of a little girl.

The girl didn't look a day over seven years old, and had ridiculous green hair and the same color of green eyes. Kate guessed that the girl had to be a Metamorphmagus, either that or her parents made her go through horrific dye jobs. The girl was tugging at Remus's arm.

"Dance with _me_, Remy, _please_!"

"Can't you see that I'm a tad busy, Nymph?" said Remus teasingly.

"That's a silly nickname," the girl pouted and crossed her arms. "Anyway, you promised me a dance!"

"And I'll go through my promise, as soon as this song is over and I'm done dancing with this girl," Remus indicated Kate.

"Actually, I need to pay a visit to the loo," said Kate. "You can let this young lady lead you through the rest of this dance."

"Alright then." Remus smiled kindly down at the little girl, and her face lit up in cheer. She held up her arms and their hands clasped together. He began twirling her around the floor as Kate left.

After a kind house-elf showed Kate to the bathroom, she left and returned back into the main hall, where a softer melody of music was playing. Kate wondered toward a quieter corner of the room behind a small, empty table. Unfortunately, it wasn't until after Kate sat on top of the table that she finally noticed that Sirius Black was very nearby, sitting against the wall, holding a finger tenderly to a bleeding lip.

* * *

**AN**- For those of you who didn't catch the massive hints I dropped, yes that little girl was Nymphadora Tonks. Does anyone find the age difference a bit creepy? I was hoping she'd be, like 13 or something but then I looked her up and learned she was born in 1973. I couldn't make her be 4 years old, so I decided to make her 7 instead, that seems less creepy.


	16. Chapter 16

**AN-** Again, I had an internal struggle while writing this chapter, driving myself mad wondering if either Kate or Sirius were both OOC (you'll know what I mean by the end of the chap). I think they are in this one, but who cares, not me!

For song choices, I highly recommend listening to "Lily Dreams On" by Cotton Mather, because even though the song was written in the 2000s, it sound like a 1960s Beatles song and it just fits the dance scene coming up. Also the lyrics of Lily Dreams On mentions the names Lily, James and Katherine, which I thought was cool.

* * *

Chapter 16

* * *

Kate froze, unsure of what to do. She made to stand up and walk away, but too late, Sirius saw her out of the corner of his eye and his head swiveled her way.

"Nolan," he grumbled.

Sirius pushed himself up so that he was leaning casually against the wall right next to her. His eyes struggled to focus on Kate's face, and she could tell by the way he was swaying and clutching the wine bottle that he was incredibly drunk that moment.

"I'd ask if you knew any healing spells - " he clumsily pointed at his bleeding lip which he head earned from his brawl earlier - "but I know you won' answer."

Kate determinedly stared out at the sea of people, waiting for Sirius to take the hint and go away. The idea of a drunken Sirius hassling her was frightening enough, because here he seemed fearless, almost confrontational, like he was on the edge of picking a fight with her.

"Or did you actually come here to be normal?" he said in an antagonistic way. "Y'know, have some fun once in your miser'ble prefect life. Well here you are, Nolan! Here, have a drink!"

Kate knew Sirius was drunk out of his mind, but what he did next really enraged her. Sirius held Kate by the chin and tipped the wine bottle over Kate's mouth, though she kept them firmly shut, allowing the wine to briefly drip onto her lips.

Instantly, Kate yelped, "Get off!" and shoved Sirius's arm away before jumping off the table. "You want to hear something, Black? You disgust me!"

"Yeah, tell me somethin' I dunno," he said bitterly.

Kate shook her head at Sirius then turned away, ready to storm off, but Sirius lightly grabbed onto her elbow.

"Wait, wait," he implored. When Kate tried to push him away again, he hurriedly said, albeit in a slurred way, "Wait, I'm sorry."

Kate faced Sirius, not in the least expecting for him to say _that_. He had this mixed, sort of pained yet amused expression on his face, and tucked his hands into his pockets as Kate stared at him.

"What?" said Kate for a better lack of words.

"Not just about the wine thing," he said, wildly gesturing at the bottle in his hand. "Just sorry about, er, everything..." He trailed off then chuckled. "It's jus', we get so swept up in loathing that... I forget that you're a human person, a human being, with feelings... and that whole package. You 'ave the same problem, though, with me. We're the same... in that aspect."

Seemingly finished, Sirius took another swig of wine. Kate broke the heavy silence by stupidly stating, "Oh."

"So," Sirius leaned his head and back against the wall again in a lazy manner. "Is all forgiven?"

Kate resisted the strong urge to say 'Hell yes!' because she didn't want to seem so eager at forgiving Sirius. The apology had come so abruptly that she was still slightly flabbergasted by it.

"I don't know," Kate finally replied. "Is this a permanent or temporary thing? Are you still going to be sorry tomorrow, or will you wake up with a hangover and conveniently forget this ever happened?"

Sirius paused, taking a moment to really process her words. He seemed to have trouble comprehending her. Then, after a short pause, he grinned. "No, no, to the country - _contrary_, to the contrary!" he was stumbling over his words in his intoxicated state. "Despite what ev'ryone thinks, I'm quite fond of... parts of you."

Kate raised her eyebrows in amusement. Sirius was drunk beyond repair, seemingly have lost his judgment or ability to hold his tongue.

"You're fond of parts of me?" she repeated.

"Yeah," he said. "I mean, not _those _parts - " Sirius clumsily pointed at Kate's chest, then seemed to change his mind. "Well, actually those parts aren't all bad either." He snickered.

"Alright, you've had enough of this - " Kate suddenly grabbed the wine bottle out of Sirius's grasp - "if you're so smashed that you're actually complimenting me."

Sirius flailed his arms after the bottle in vain attempt to reach it back, protesting as he did so, but Kate found it easy to keep it out of reach. However, when she turned away, Sirius wrapped his arms around Kate to try reaching the bottle that way, but when he felt Kate's body suddenly tense in his grip, he realized he was invading her personal space and backed away.

Kate fought the heat rising in her face and awkwardly cleared her throat.

"What would'ya want with _my_ wine, anyway? It's not like you're gonna drink it," complained Sirius, who had given up reaching for the bottle and opted to sit on top of the table.

"Oh really?" said Kate. "Well I'll have you know, _Black_, that I've had my share of drinks before." When Sirius stared at her for an explanation, she continued. "Last summer, at my aunt Alida's wedding. My dad said it was okay, so he snuck me two shots of peppermint schnapps. I was so hammered that I ended up kissing a complete stranger, only to learn the next morning that stranger was the 28-year-old best man. Dad was so furious that he punched the best man in the eye." Kate found herself smiling at the memory.

"Your da' sounds like a cool bloke."

"He is," admitted Kate.

When she glanced over, she saw that Sirius was now lying on top of the table, eyes closed, apparently falling in and out of consciousness. Kate then stared down at the wine bottle and pondered her next decision. Ever since her near-death at the Hogwarts lake, Kate had promised to live more _fully_ instead of resigning herself to the mundane life she had previously established.

After going through a small internal battle, Kate just thought '_Screw it'_ and uncorked the bottle of red wine. After two timid sips, Kate finally took one long chug from the bottle, before cringing at the sour taste that accompanied the grape flavoring.

* * *

"It's quite ironic," remarked Lily as James led her toward his house's kitchen, "that your party is serving every beverage imaginable - save the one drink that _I_ want, plain old milk."

"Yes, quite ironic," smirked James, who dove into his refrigerator and pulled out a carton of mild. "Here you are," he handed the carton to Lily.

"Thanks for not getting me a cup, I prefer chugging it right from the carton," said Lily, right before she took one long drink of milk.

"That, Miss Evans, is precisely why I like you."

After Lily finished gulping, she looked at James and said, "I thought you liked me because I was smart, charming, beautiful and ever so - "

"Self congratulatory," finished James. "Yes, I like those qualities in you too." After Lily laughed, James pointed at her lip. "You've got milk on your lip - here, I'll get it."

James leaned in and used his sleeve to wipe the white mustache off Lily's lip. Once he was finished, the pair stared intently at each other, and the atmosphere of the room turned from flirty to intimate.

James and Lily found both of themselves mesmerized, and leaning in closer and closer, mere inches from their lips meeting, when -

"Erm, oh!" cut in a startled voice.

James and Lily tore apart, and saw a confused Remus having just walked into the room, carrying a sleeping girl in his arms. Lily backed up several steps and blushed crimson.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything," muttered Remus abashedly.

"No, there's nothing to interrupt," said James fiercely, sardonically.

"Shh," said Remus, pointing at the sleeping girl whose head rested on his shoulder. "I guess the party's clearing up. Have either of you seen Sirius around?"

"No," answered Lily quietly. "It seems he and Kate just vanished for the rest of the night."

"That can't be good," said James. "We ought to go looking for them, before they find each other in some dark empty corridor and murder one another."

"I won't be able to join you just yet," whispered Remus. "I need to return Nymphadora here to her parents, before they start to worry."

They all nodded in quiet agreement, then each left the kitchen. As James searched all the upstairs rooms of his house, Lily blindly wondered downstairs in search of either Kate or Sirius. It astounded Lily that Kate was even missing in the first place, as she tended to stick with friends during social outings.

"Tonight's a night for a lot of firsts," Lily mumbled to herself.

* * *

With each drink, Kate was losing more of her inhibitions and found it harder to stay in control of herself. During the first half hour of her buzz, Kate kept coaxing various strangers to dance with her no matter how old or young they were. Whereas before she was more careful in her dancing, now she was freely moving and swaying where she wanted to, and it felt _great_.

Her feeling of high didn't last though. By midnight, Kate was fully drunk and consulted Sirius (of all people, since she couldn't locate anybody else she knew) for help in what had just started as a stomach ache.

"I'm not feeling so well, Black," said Kate over his shoulder, oblivious to the fact that Sirius was in the middle of chatting up another girl. "I think I may vomit."

Sirius sighed and muttered, "Catch you later," to the other girl before fully turning to Kate. Just as he had spun around, Kate suddenly fell into his arms, having lost the ability to properly stand without wobbling.

"Alright, lets get you some fresh air."

It only vaguely registered in Kate's mind that not only was Sirius going to help her, but he was actually slinging her arm over his shoulder to lead her outside. After taking Kate through a maze of hallways (that he was amazingly familiar with) Sirius eventually brought Kate to the backyard outside.

In her sickening daze, Kate stumbled over to a nearby tree as her stomach started convulsing. She wrapped her arms around the tree in support, before vomit finally came up her throat and out of her mouth. She was hoping that Sirius wasn't watching.

When she finished, Kate pulled herself up so that her back was leaning up against the tree. Sirius was facing her with his hands in his pockets again, and Kate smiled because she couldn't help but think it was a cute habit of his. Then she quickly shook the notion of Sirius being_ cute_ out of her head. Yes, he was handsome, but she couldn't think of him past that or she would _really_ be in trouble.

"Are you still drunk?" Kate wondered aloud, slightly slurring her words, though not to the degree Sirius had earlier.

"A bit, but I'm not as smashed as you are," said Sirius, grinning. Even she could tell Sirius was a lot less drunk then he was just hours earlier, but he still had a buzz in his system that made him groggy and tipsy.

"Well thanks for walking me out here," said Kate lamely. She felt so stupid and awkward at that moment, she really wished she wasn't drunk anymore so that she could look at Sirius with a straight face.

"Welcome," said Sirius. "It was pretty easy, seeing as you're not being so difficult tonight."

"I am being unusually friendly, aren't I?" said Kate, resolving into laughter. She'd been doing that a lot tonight.

"I think the alcohol consumption has something to do with it," said Sirius.

"Can't argue with that logic."

"Pity, we always find something to argue about."

"Not tonight."

Sirius and Kate fell into a comfortable silence, enjoying the dark night that enveloped them. They continued staring at each other in slight wonderment.

Music from inside the house was so loud that it actually streamed outside, loud enough for Kate and Sirius to hear. After a quick piano piece had ended, a softer, romantic song came on.

"Hmm, love song," purred Kate, not really thinking of what she was saying.

Sirius glanced at the window gratefully, then turned back at Kate.

"You know what would make this night really corny?" he said, still smirking.

"Wha?" slurred Kate.

His grin widened, and he yanked his head to the side. "Come on."

Kate stared at him in confusion, and when she made no move, Sirius gently took Kate by the arm and led her to a patch of grass that was dimly lit by the moonlight. Kate had to agree - this was cliched, yet she was going along with it. Sirius placed Kate's hands so that they were wrapped around his neck, staring uncertainly at her as he did so. Then he placed careful hands on her back; the pair began slowly swaying the the song.

Neither were sure where to look, but increasingly found themselves gazing at one another, uncomfortable yet drawn in to what was happening. They were_ dancing_ together. Kate was really drunk and had trouble thinking clearly, but nonetheless she knew that was was happening was just unreal, because she found herself actually liking it.

Just as Kate was beginning to get comfortable and rested her head on Sirius's shoulder, Lily's sharp voice cut into the night.

"_What_ is happening here?!"

Kate and Sirius glanced up and pulled apart. Lily stared at them with unbelieving eyes.

"Oh," said Kate. "Lily! Now, I know this looks bad," she glanced at Sirius, who stood there blankly, "but there's a perfectly good explanation for why were were doing what we were doing. And that explanation is... I'm drunk!"

Sirius stifled a chuckle and Kate fell into a fit of laughter. Lily, on the other hand, didn't find the situation so funny.

"Clearly," said Lily, stepping up to grab Kate by the arm. "Now let's get you back before the two of you start groping each other. Honestly, I never expected this from you..." Lily ranted while leading Kate back inside by the arm.

"I'll see you in Potions, Nolan," she heard Sirius distantly shout after her.

"Yeah," said Kate numbly as Lily practically dragged her inside. "Slow down, Lily, my world is spinning!" Kate stopped to lean against Lily, using her as balance support.

"You have a lot of explaining to do," said Lily fiercely. "For instance, what the hell were you doing_ dancing_ with your sworn enemy?"

"That," stated Kate, taking way too much effort to speak than normal, "is an excellent question."

_Thunk_. A second later, Kate had fallen to the floor, passed out.

* * *

**Replies to ANON**

**tanny apple**- You've been really kind and consistent in your reviews, and for that I thank you! Don't worry, there will be some drunken antics! Oops, spoilers!

**HarleyQ**- Yay, my favorite anon reviewer is back! (no offense to the other anon reviewers, she's just more detailed). You and your silly roaring and knitting. I quite agree with you on near-death experiences in fics, characters should NOT got back to normal in the very next chapter, that just undermines the whole near-death thing. Where would we be without Sirius's immaturity? I'm not sure, but I do know this fic would be a lot less interesting. You're not the only reviewer who craved chocolate after chapter 16, so relax, and help yourself to some virtual chocolate chip cookies. Thanks, as always, I'm glad you re-found this fic.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

* * *

The moment Kate awoke, she felt a splitting headache creeping into her skull. "Ahhh," she groaned, trying to find courage to open her eyes. When she did open them, she instantly regretted it, as blinding light hit her retinas.

"Well, well. Look who's awake," came Lily's snide voice.

Kate ignored her, blinking several times to adjust to the brightness.

"Is it true, Kate?" said Merle's voice on her other side. "Were you really drunk last night? Or is Lily just shitting me?"

"Being drunk wasn't the last of it, Merle," said Lily. "You wouldn't believe what else she's done."

"Lily, shut it," croaked Kate, trying and failing to crawl out of bed. As she tried moving, Kate felt a wave of nausea hit her. "The hangover I'm experiencing is punishment enough."

"Oh bugger, I have to go tell Leah!" Merle said excitedly.

Through her haze, Kate vaguely saw Merle practically gallop out of the dorm. She felt a light weight crawl into her lap, and looked down to see her beloved white cat, Lady, snuggling away. At least someone was being kind to her. Lily wasn't so forgiving.

"I just don't understand you," said Lily. When Kate looked up, she saw Lily was pacing back and forth. "It's like you're a different person now. You've never done anything so unlike you, until last night. Could you please let me in? Tell me what the hell is going on in that head of yours? Or did I just imagine the whole thing, and you and Sirius Black didn't share a dance?"

Kate looked away for a moment, reminded of everything that happened last night. Yes, it had been fun at the time, but now looking back she hated herself for not having lost control, having acted like an idiot.

"Well?" said Lily when Kate didn't answer.

"Lil, calm down. For goodness sake, stop pacing! I'm the same person. I just... I'm going through some changes. You know, I never would have done it if I'd known you'd react like this! You're starting to scare me."

"I know, I'm overreacting," admitted Lily, falling to sit on the edge of Kate's bed. "Just, a lot of weird things happened last now."

"Not really. I got drunk, danced with Black. Nothing life-shattering."

"Oh, you think the world revolves around you, doesn't it?"

Kate stared at Lily, watching the way the wheels in Lily's head seemed to be spinning. "Something happened, didn't it?" Kate said, sitting up straighter. "Spill."

"I don't think I should tell you."

"Lily!"

"Alright! I can't believe I'm saying this, but me and Potter. Last night... we nearly kissed."

Lily had whispered the last part, but it nonetheless made a huge impact.

"What?" yelled Kate despite her headache.

"Shh!" Lily said urgently. "_Kissed_, we nearly kissed. It was just a momentary thing, you know. I got so caught up in how charming James was being that I was, I was going to go through with it."

Kate silently knew what Lily was going through. She understood where Lily was coming from. The "momentary thing" was what happened between her and Sirius last night.

"You know," said Lily, her voice was suddenly shaky. "Everything was perfectly fine at the beginning of the year. We had our priorities straight then. But now, now everything seems like it's changing, for the worse. You know?"

Kate sighed, "Hey. I don't know whether anything is happening between you and James Potter, and as of right now I don't care because I've got a splitting headache that I need to treat. Just know that little has changed between me and Black. Obviously, things will be weird, but we're not in love or anything." Kate silently told herself that she wasn't lying, like she was assuring herself. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to see Madam Pomfrey."

"That does make me feel a bit better," said Lily.

"Glad your so concerned with yourself, and not your sick-ridden best friend."

* * *

Kate winced and wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead as she walked into the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey immediately approached her.

"Come in, Ms Nolan, take a seat. How can I be of assistance today?"

"I'm not feeling well," said Kate.

"Really?" said another voice sarcastically. Kate turned her head and saw a very irritable-looking Sirius sitting on a bed, glaring at them. "No one would have guessed that, at the hospital wing!" he snapped.

"Why don't you piss off!" bellowed Kate back.

"Gladly!"

"A_hem_!" yelped Madam Pomfrey, glaring back and forth between the two. She looked back at Kate for her to continue.

Kate listed off her symptoms, hoping that Pomfrey wouldn't notice that they were all signs of a hangover.

"I'm nauseous, sweaty, dehydrated, and I have a raging headache. And no, I'm not on my period."

"You sure?" Sirius cut in again.

"Mr. Black!" screeched Pomfrey, causing Kate to flinch at the sound. "Enough of your comments! You, of all people, should take pity at Ms. Nolan's plight, since you show the very same symptoms! Now please take a seat, dearie. A potion remedy will be ready soon."

Pomfrey left, leaving Sirius and Kate alone in the wing. Kate clutched her head in pain. The searing sensation wouldn't go away.

Without thinking, she said aloud, "I'm never drinking again."

"That's what they all say."

"But I mean it!" said Kate. "You think I had fun, hunched over a tree last night, puking my guts out?"

"Oh, but I enjoyed watching you!" sneered Sirius.

Kate took this in, realizing that if they both remembered her vomiting, then perhaps they remembered more that came with that night.

"How much of last night do you remember?" asked Kate.

Sirius's demeanor turned from contemptuous to cautious, slightly nervous.

"Er, nothing," he said. "Just glimpses. Of things. You?"

"I don't remember much of anything either," lied Kate.

They both stared at each other, knowing they were both lying their arses off.

"Okay, we both know that's a load of shit!" bursted Sirius.

"God, what were we thinking?" said Kate, grimacing.

"You were the one who drunk her weight," accused Sirius, his eyes narrowing.

"Don't even pretend that you weren't trashed last night," said Kate, crossing her arms. "You were just as bad as I was."

"At least I could navigate my surroundings," said Sirius. "Meanwhile, you were just stumbling around, completely clueless as to what was going on around you."

"How was that even possible?" asked Kate, remembering how Sirius lead her outside last night. "You just walked through Potter's house like you knew where you were going."

"Maybe because I did know where I was going? I live there, Nolan."

Kate looked at Sirius, very confused. "You live at Potter's house? Why?"

"Why? Because my real family is so bloody loving and accepting."

Kate was going to press the matter, but Madam Pomfrey came in at that second, clutching goblets of potion in her hands. She handed each goblet to Kate and Sirius. While Kate took a sip and made a face of disgust, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Sirius was fearlessly gulping down the remedy. Sirius left before Kate could even fully gulp the remedy down. _How did he do that_?

* * *

The next time Kate saw Sirius, it was in their Potions class on Monday. Both Kate and Sirius were feeling considerably better after their hangovers, and worked diligently on creating a batch of Murtlap Essence during that hour.

While Kate was in the middle of stirring the cauldron, and Sirius was busy chopping up Murtlap, the dungeon was treated to a new guest. Jude Carmichael walked in, carrying a parchment and handing it to Professor Slughorn.

"Thank you, Mr. Carmichael, that'll do!" said Slughorn happily.

Jude nodded and began heading out the door. On his way he noticed Kate staring at him and smiled.

"Hi," he said.

"Hey," she said, grinning back.

"Er, I know it was yesterday, but happy Easter," said Jude.

"Yeah, you too."

"I heard you were one of the students who went to James Potter's house Saturday night. How was the party?"

Kate frowned, instantly reminded that Sirius was right next to her. She heard him chopping the roots of the Murtlap rougher than usual.

"Fine," said Kate wryly, and left it at that.

"Before I leave," started Jude, "I've been meaning to catch you, to ask whether you'd be interested in going to Hogsmeade with me next Saturday - "

"As in a date?" said Kate, all thoughts of Sirius out of her head. "Sure! Yes! Of course. What time do you want to meet?"

"Whatever time you'd like," shrugged Jude.

"How about noon," replied Kate.

He nodded and smiled. "It's a date, then."

"It's a date."

"Goodbye, then."

He waved and left, but just as Kate was about to wave goodbye back, Sirius's sarcastic voice cut in.

"Goodbye!" he said mock sentimentally, waving his arm in a flimsy way.

"Anymore rude comments you'd like to make, while we're at it?" Kate asked Sirius, sending him a glare as she did so.

"No, I think you're secretly repulsed with yourself, I've done my job."

"What is it with you, Black? What do you have against Jude? He's Head Boy, he's a gentlemen, _and_ he is studying to become an Healer!"

"Yeah, and he's dead boring."

"I like boring," said Kate, though she hated herself for saying this. "At least I'll know that Jude's a safe thing."

"I just think that a relationship isn't worth pursuing if there isn't any..." he trailed off.

"What?" said Kate. "Anxiety? Drama?"

"I was going to say fire, but anxiety works."

"So in other words, you believe relationships are supposed to be full of pain, right?"

"No pain, no gain."

"Why am I even speaking to you about this?" Kate questioned, feeling stupid. "Really, how many serious relationships have you been in?"

"Five," answered Sirius. "Well, only two of them I really counted as '_serious_'."

"And who were they? Because I haven't seen you with a girl for more than three weeks."

"Mae Li and Robin Thatcher. Just because they didn't last more than three weeks doesn't mean I didn't really care for them."

"Yeah, for only three weeks. Could we just drop this? I really don't feel comfortable talking about your love life. It makes me queasy."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

* * *

Kate practically slammed her books so they thumped with a resounding_ smack_ on the table, then she sat down at the Gryffindor table. Her friends, Leah and Merle, all stopped to stare at Kate.

"He is so difficult!" growled Kate.

Leah and Merle all simultaneously glanced at each other and said, "Black," at once.

"Where does he get off giving me relationship advise? It's my life. I don't give a damn what think thinks of it!"

"Of course you don't," said Leah jokingly, rolling her eyes. "That's why you're_ not _here, complaining about him."

Kate sent Leah a withering glare, but Merle spoke up before an argument could brew.

"Why were you talking about relationships in the first place?" questioned Merle.

"It just came up - right after Jude asked me out right in front of Black."

Leah looked up and raised her eyebrows. She spoke up, "Jude Carmichael? Asked you out?"

"Yes, and I said yes. Why, how do you know him?"

"Nothing, he just tutored me right before OWLs."

Kate thought this was odd, as Leah was a decent student and didn't need tutoring. Kate continued speaking though. "Right, well, Sirius thought Jude would be a bit too bland for me."

"Maybe Sirius has a point," said Leah, surprising everyone. She had this sort of set jaw in her face, and her eyes were slightly narrowed. "You and Jude might not be a good match."

"Leah!" said Kate, offended.

"What?" she threw back.

Leah suddenly stood up and walked off, out of the Great Hall. Her friends stared in her wake, speechless. Leah never lost her temper with Kate like that.

"Nice job," noted Merle wryly.

"Believe me, it was unintentional." Kate collected her things again and started after Leah. "I'm going to follow her, and try to get to the bottom of this."

Once Kate had caught up with Leag, they were standing in the corridor near the Hufflepuff common room entrance. Kate called after Leah, and was relieved whenLeah stopped and turned around.

"Oh, Kate," said Leah, looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry I snapped at you like that back there. I'm just not feeling myself right now."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know... Why do you want to go out with Jude?" Her tone of voice had changed, it was high pitched.

"Because, he's a decent guy," said Kate suspiciously. "Wait, Jude, are you jealous of me and Jude?"

Leah blushed instantly, giving Kate the answer. Of course, she tried to deny it at first.

"No, no... Oh gods, yes I am jealous!" She covered her face in embarrassment, causing Kate to smile. "You know that whole tutoring thing? I never needed it, I only asked because I liked Jude at the time, and I wanted an excuse to be near him. But he was always so serious, that he got annoyed whenever I strayed off topic. Now he just thinks I'm this silly girl, I'm sure, and when I found out you and him were going out, old feelings of that crush just came back and I got jealous. There."

"Wow," said Kate. "I don't think I've heard you speak so much in your life. You really like him, don't you?"

"I thought I was done with that crush," sighed Leah. "But I guess not."

"It doesn't make sense, though. Don't you think Jude may be a little too... serious for you?"

"He is," admitted Leah "but that's kind of why I like him. Sort of like we complement each other."

Kate considered Leah's words, and thought that was really insightful of her to say. They _complemented_ each other. Did Kate and Jude complement each other?

"Leah, if it bothers you, I'm canceling my date."

"Oh no, please don't cancel on my account!"

"Too bad, because I will. I couldn't do that to a friend. I don't like Jude _that _much, anyway."

After having said it, something clicked inside Kate's head. _I don't like Jude that much anyway_. Those were her words, and they had come out of her mouth so naturally. _Sirius was right_.

"Er, hullo, earth to Kate?" said Leah, waving a hand in front of Kate.

Kate snapped out of it, and returned to the present conversation. "Don't worry, Leah. Me and the girls will devise some sort of plan, to hook you and Jude up together."

"Oh," said Jude, seemingly defeated to her fate. "So should we tell Merle and Lily? About what's going on?"

Kate nodded yeah. "Lil's a mad schemer when she wants to be."

* * *

When Kate entered the Gryffindor common room, she immediately heard Lily's voice, but it was screaming. Kate assessed the situation - Lily was on one end of the common room, with James across from her, and they looked beyond angry at one another.

"That is so typical of you, Potter! Why I even thought that you had changed is beyond me!"

"Don't even start, Evans! Snape was the one who attacked _me_! What was I supposed to do, take it while lying down?"

"You could have walked away!"

"You don't get it, do you Evans? How can you even defend that slimy git after all that's happened, huh?"

Lily blushed, probably thinking that James was talking about the near-kissing incident. "Uh, nothing happened!"

"_He called you a Mudblood!_" he said ferociously. Tears prickled at Lily's green eyes at the mention of the memory. "He's friends with wannabe Death Eaters! Sometimes I wonder what's _wrong_ with you, how you can stand defending someone so vile and just reject me day after day!"

Lily had had enough, and finally burst.

"I HATE YOU!" she screamed. "I CAN'T STAND YOU! JUST STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

With tears finally pouring down her face, Lily spun around and ran up the girl's staircase. Kate watched, helpless to what was going on. To her surprise, James continued yelling after her even more.

"Fine with me, Evans! At this point, I think I'd prefer just giving up on you!"

Kate never thought she'd be hearing those words from James. After he finished, James whirled around and marched up the boy's staircase, fuming. The one bystander of the fight, beside Kate, was Peter Pettigrew. He sat silently on the common room couch, unsure of what next to do.

"What_ happened_?" Kate asked Peter.

"Snivellus - I mean Snape, he tried some dark magic on James and he fought back. Lily caught the last of the duel and they've been yelling ever since."

"You should go upstairs, make sure James is doing okay," said Kate, but Peter looked almost frightened at the prospect, not when James was so livid at the moment. "I'll go check on Lily."

Once Kate went upstairs, she saw Lily on her knees screaming into a pillow in frustration. Kate bent down beside Lily and placed a hand on Lily's shoulder in comfort. When Lily pulled out of the pillow, her arms flung around Kate and she enveloped her in a bear hug. Lily was bawling, _hard_.

Kate was a tad stunned. She knew Lily would be upset, but not _this _upset. Then again, Lily nearly cried all night after Snape had called her a Mudblood. James bringing it up again probably hurt her more than intended.

After some sobbing, and some rubs of comfort from Kate, Lily mustered up the strength to finally speak. She kept repeating the same thing over and over again, as though it was a phrase she was latching onto for support.

"I hate him so much. I hate him so much."

"I know, Lil, I'm sorry."

"I hate him."

"You're gonna feel a lot better in an hour, I promise. I'll summon some chocolate ice cream and we can have an all-out girls night. Anything to make you feel better."

"I hate him."

"I know."

"Hate him."

* * *

Some weeks had passed, and neither James nor Lily showed any sign of being remorseful toward the other person. Kate had expected this from Lily, but not from James. He'd always hopelessly liked Lily from the start of their fourth year. He'd had his moments of anger at Lily before, but they'd never lasted for more than a couple of days. Kate had the distinct feeling that they'd ignore each other for the rest of the year.

In the last week of May, Kate found herself escaping one of Lily's rants about James by excusing herself to the kitchens. She'd been told how to enter the kitchens by Remus during one of the patrols.

The minute Kate tickled the pear and entered the kitchens, she immediately regretted it. Sitting at the table, by himself and eating a slice of cake, was Sirius Black.

"You!" blurted out Kate, cursing fate for continuously forcing her to run into Sirius. It was bad enough she saw him in Potions nearly ever other day.

Sirius glanced up with an unreadable expression, and replied flatly, "You."

Kate walked in so that she was standing across from him, and stared at him defiantly. "I'm not leaving just because you're here."

"Good for you," said Sirius humorlessly, sending her a look that said '_I don't care_'.

Kate hesitantly sat down right across from Sirius as a house-elf approached her, asking what she wanted. Kate answered that she wanted a bowl of ice cream, then waited as the house-elf scurried off. There was something about Sirius that made him seem inattentive, even down, it was different from the usually exuberant, brash self that Sirius displayed.

After a heavy silence, Sirius sighed and sent Kate a glare when she wouldn't stop staring. "What?"

"When do you think James and Lily are going to get over their little spat?" asked Kate, hoping that the question would bring him out of his little mood.

Sirius shrugged. "Beats me. I don't think I've ever seen James this mad at Evans before."

"Same here," said Kate. "She actually tossed James's necklace out our dorm's window. That's how upset she was."

"She's got anger issues."

"Pretty much," confessed Kate, not in the mood to argue Sirius in Lily's defense. When Sirius scooped another piece of cake with his fork, Kate's eyes followed then landed on a opened letter right next to Sirius.

"Who's that from?" asked Kate. Having attended Hogwarts for almost six years, it hadn't escaped her attention that Sirius rarely got letters from home, unless they were Howlers.

"My uncle Alphard," answered Sirius monotonously.

"I thought you said you hated your family? Well, you never said it, but you did imply it."

"I do hate them," explained Sirius. "Uncle Alphard is one exception. He may have been Slytherin, but he didn't buy into all that pure-blood rubblish like the rest of the family. So he sympathized with me."

"Hmm," said Kate, unsure of what else to say to Sirius. She did feel bad for his home life, she just didn't know how to really respond to it. "I guess that explains a few things about you," said Kate lamely.

Sirius looked up at her sharply. "What do you mean?"

"Just, why you are the way you are. You know, with that rebellious nature of yours. I think it's..." Kate paused, nervous about the next part she was about to tell him. "I think it's a bit brave that you left your family."

"I am in Gryffindor for a reason," said Sirius with raised eyebrows. He seemed slightly amused that Kate had actually complimented him. "Hmm."

"What?"

"Did we just have an actual conversation?"

Kate smiled, feeling more confident. "Amazingly, yes. I sort of understand where you're coming from, with your family situation. I mean, I don't have a family who I hate, but sometimes the way my mum is just frustrates me. Our family goes back generations in Ravenclaw, and she gets so hung up that I broke the tradition by being in Gryffindor."

Sirius sent her a humorless, critical look. "That's it?" he said snidely.

"Excuse me?"

"That's how you know where I'm '_coming from_'?"

Something had darkened in Sirius's expression, he was no longer friendly, but glaring at Kate through narrowed gray eyes.

Kate felt a stab of hurt in her. Moments earlier they'd been getting along, but now he seemed to return back to hating her.

"I just - " started Kate, but was cut off by Sirius.

"Like you really know what it's like, Nolan," spat Sirius scornfully, his voice slightly raised. "I've been through hell because of my family. Years of emotional abuse and a wretched childhood, just because my views differ from my family's traditions. You're honestly going to compare _that_ with a mother who's just disappointed in you? Wow, that really puts my problems into perspective!"

Flabbergasted, Kate said, "I wasn't comparing - "

"Then what were you doing?" snapped Sirius.

Kate collected herself enough to build back her own argument. "I was trying to relate to you! But no, you couldn't even let me do that, could you? You know, I'm glad you yelled at me, it gives me a dose of reality! That you and I will _never_ get along!"

Just as the house elf arrived to hand Kate a dish of ice cream, she pushed it away furiously and stormed out of the kitchens.

* * *

**AN**- Wow, every scene in this chapter involves some sort of fighting. Kinda sad. I know you guys must be tired of the arguments, but I think this will be one of the last ones they have, so enjoy! There's a good reason Sirius is being pissy this chapter, so don't get mad at him just yet.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

* * *

Icy silence.

That was the only way to describe the next potions class that Kate sat through. Sirius and Kate were still sore about their last fight. For Kate, it had been proof that every time she tried to get on friendly terms with him, it only backfired and ended up hurting her. For Sirius, he was so exhausted at trying to explain himself to her that he just decided not to bother.

It was truly an inopportune moment for them to quietly send glares at each other, too, because that day the class was preparing for their end-of-year exams. It usually took communication between partners for a potion to turn out right. Kate and Sirius spoke as minimally as possible while they worked on creating a Draught of Peace. Ironically, the draught didn't seem to inspire any kinds of peaceful feelings between the pair, and in fact, another argument had arisen when Sirius made a vital mistake which ruined the potion.

"You added to much hellebore!" hissed Kate, trying to control the draught's overflowing liquid from spilling over.

"You think I don't know that?" growled Sirius.

"This'll ruin the potion," said Kate, giving up and letting the draught overflow in order to send Sirius a harsh glare.

"I don't give a damn at this point," Sirius said apathetically.

"Fine, I guess we'll just give up!" said Kate, crossing her arms.

"I've no problem with that."

Kate and Sirius simply stopped working after that. There was only ten minutes left in class, hardly enough time to fix the potion. Both of them knew that the argument was less about messing up the potion, and more about the hopeless situation they were in.

When class had ended, and students began to clear out of the room, Professor Slughorn approached Kate and Sirius's desk at the back when he had noticed that they'd been the only ones who hadn't turned in the assignment. Slughorn watched as Kate conjured a towel and begin scrubbing the counter.

"Not your best work, Mr Black, Ms Nolan!" said Slughorn disappointingly, eying the mess on their desk.

"Sorry Professor," said Kate tensely. "We had trouble concentrating." She shot Sirius a look but he was too busy gathering his belongings into his bag to notice.

"It's alright," sighed Slughorn. "I think I'll excuse you for the failed assignment today, Mr Black. After all, with the recent passing of your relative, anybody would find it difficult to concentrate in class."

Kate froze and looked up in surprise. Did Slughorn say what she thought he said?

Slughorn kept speaking at Sirius, who only glared off into space in response. "I don't know if you were aware, Sirius, but Alphard Black was a House mate with me. A decent potions brewer, too. He was a good fellow."

The professor ruefully treaded away. Kate's mouth was open and her eyes immediately landed on Sirius. He was staring agitatedly at Slughorn, before quickly slinging his bag over his shoulder and exiting the classroom, all done before Kate could say anything.

Kate stumbled to finish clearing the counter of their cauldron, hurriedly tucked her wand into her pocket, then rushed out the classroom with her bag in hand. She glanced back and forth between the crowded hallway, in search of Sirius's retreating form. When she couldn't find him, it occurred to her that Sirius once mentioned how he had a Herbology class right after Potions. She walked toward the nearest exit.

* * *

Kate found Sirius outside, walking down the Hogwarts bridge, on his way to the greenhouses.

"Black!" called Kate after him. When he didn't turn around, she broke out in a small run to catch up. "Oi Black!"

Sirius turned around just as Kate slowed down, stopping in front of him to catch her breathe. She heaved several times, she_ really_ needed to start exercising if she was_ this_ out of shape.

"I didn't know," Kate panted, as her breathe started to stabilize. "I didn't know your uncle died."

Sirius glanced out over the bridge, at the Scotland scenery, before his eyes landed on Kate again. She kept thinking about her dead grandparents, how upset she'd been when they had died in the same month. Sirius had been doing a good job of keeping his emotions at bay, not letting on that he was sad over his uncle's death, but then again Kate hadn't seen him smile in ages, a hint she should have picked up on sooner.

"The letter was his will," Sirius finally spoke, his voice was hollow. "He left me most of his inheritance. A sort of best-of-luck thing."

"If I'd known - "

"I know, if you'd know, you would have been different. The fact is it's my fault you didn't know, I just didn't feel like bringing it up in conversation."

"Yeah, I get it," nodded Kate, her sympathy for Sirius clearly showing, though she no longer cared. "And I'm sorry."

Sirius made an attempt at a smile, but he was so solemn that he couldn't even manage that.

"Accepted," said Sirius quietly, shrugging.

A heavy silence crept up on them. Kate felt sorry for Sirius, and she wanted to make him feel better, but not by getting to close to him. The last time that happened, she was stung by him.

"So," croaked Kate, deciding to make a lame attempt at a joke. "We're not going to cry and hug now, are we?"

A ghost of a smile flitted over Sirius's face, and he muttered, "I guess not."

Sirius turned away and looked like he was going to leave, probably sensing that Kate was feeling very awkward that moment. However, at seeing that Sirius was about to leave, a flash of rashness overcame Kate, leading her to drop her bag and approach Sirius.

"Sirius," she said to get his attention, and as he turned back, Kate caught him off guard by wrapping her arms around him.

Even Kate couldn't believe herself, that she was willingly embracing Sirius, but for once she opted to listen to her instincts instead of her rationale. At first Sirius was unresponsive (perhaps out of shock) but eventually he gave in by putting his arms around Kate's back and resting his chin on her shoulder, it was his way of accepting the hug.

"I'm sorry," whispered Kate.

"I know."

Something changed between the two after that. After a minute went by, and they both began to pull away from the hug, their faces came into abnormally close distance with each other, and their eyes met, an undeniable heat crossing between each other.

In one heated, charged moment, Sirius instinctively brushed his lips against Kate's. It almost seemed like an accident, but it happened. A tremble of excitement shot through Kate, causing her to react without thinking - she puckered her lips and pushed in, their mouths clashed together.

They were kissing.

Something very primal was kicking inside of Kate as they tongues met. All kinds of feelings flit inside her - a certain lust for Sirius, who she'd always been physically attracted to, a passion from all the heated fights they'd endured, and an odd mix of frustration and affection for him. Sirius placed a hand on Kate's cheek, digging to get more out of the kiss, and Kate reacted by running a hand across the back of his neck. During the hug they had been lightly pulled up against each other, but now their bodies were pressed together, enjoying one another's warmth.

After what seemed like an eternity but was only thirty seconds, the reality of the situation set in. Kate broke off from the kiss, and Sirius came to his senses as well. They stared intently at each other, expressions of bewilderment etched on their faces. Kate stepped back in disbelief at what she'd done.

Kate could only manage to coherently say one thing after that, "I - have to go. I have to go."

She grabbed her bag off the ground, then dashed away in the other direction. Sirius said nothing as she made her way from the bridge.

* * *

"Kate... Kate!"

Lily and Merle were staring at Kate, wondering why she kept mentally drifting off the way she did. It had been occurring all day, causing them to be slightly concerned.

"Yeah," Kate responded, her head snapping at her friends, sitting across from her in the library.

"You've been staring off into space," said Lily. "What's with you today?"

"I dunno, I'm just not feeling myself," said Kate, returning to the Charms essay in front of her.

"You're not, like, jealous or something that Jude and Leah finally got together?" asked Merle.

Kate snorted. "That's the least of my worries."

If anything, Kate was happy that Jude and Leah were dating. It took awhile to convince Jude that he and Leah would make a good pair, but when Kate and Lily had showed him an "unsent" letter by Leah explaining everything she liked about Jude, he accepted and they went out of their first Hogsmeade date. Since then, they'd been inseparable.

"I know what Kate's problem is," said Merle. "She's lonely! Who was the last boyfriend you had?"

"Last summer, I was penpals with a wizard named Arda," said Kate, hoping this would be sufficient for Merle.

"What happened with him?"

"When I finally met him, he wasn't as charming as he he was in his letters. We broke up the day we met. I'm pretty sure he cursed at me in Turkish."

"Kate's definitely in need of a boyfriend, then."

"No I'm not!" said Kate, suddenly panicked. "I don't need any boy to make me feel happy!"

"Calm down," said Lily in a hushed voice, "before Madam Pince kicks us out of the library." Lily shot a nervous look at the librarian sitting at the front desk.

Kate sighed and went back to writing the essay. It was clear that Kate was still frustrated, though, because instead of writing '_The Unbreakable Charm does not last forever_' she had actually written '_I do not need a boy to make me feel better_'. Kate grumbled then scratched out the last sentence with her quill. It became obvious to her that her mind was still on the kiss she shared with Sirius.

"Oh no," mumbled Lily. "_Potter'_s here."

Kate looked up and found James talking with Madam Pince at the front desk. It looked like he was trying to return an overdue book, but Pince refused to accept after finding small scribbling on the inside cover.

"You're not still pissed at him?" said Merle, staring at Lily disbelievingly. "After all, from what Kate tells me, the fight was only over Snape. You guys fought over him before, I don't see why it's such a big deal now."

"It just is, okay?" said Lily, turning crimson.

Kate secretly agreed with Merle, the fight between James and Lily hadn't seemed like an important one, but it had lasted so that James and Lily were _still_ mad near the end of the year. Kate supposed it had been a big deal to them because the fight had taken place right after the Easter holiday party, where James and Lily had come so close to becoming a couple.

Lily packed up her things when James showed no sign of leaving, then exited the library, sending James a noticeable glare on her way out. James squinted evilly at Lily, before returning back to his argument with Madam Pince.

"You know, I sort of expected this from Lily but not from Potter," said Merle.

"I know," agreed Kate. "I guess Potter's finally over his crush on Lily. He did say that he was '_giving up_' the day they fought."

"Still, I didn't peg Potter as the type. Not after he spent all that time pining after Lily."

"I think it's _because_ Potter spent all that time pining that he finally got sick of Lily and said to hell with her. Hopefully they'll both be able to move on soon."

"Yeah," said Merle. "We wouldn't want another Kate and Sirius on our hands, would we?"


	20. Chapter 20

**AN**- It's about time I changed this story to rated T. There's cursing, sexuality, alcohol, and now because of the beginning of the chapter, there's a sex dream to add to this list. They don't go "all the way" in the dream, but if the dream had kept going they probably would have ;P

* * *

Chapter 20

* * *

_They trash around the room, panting, then they finally settle on his bed. Sirius is pushed onto his back, and Kate mounts on top of him, rips open his buttoned shirt. Sirius gives a nervous chuckle, surprised at Kate's aggressiveness. She lowers herself to give him soft and furtive kisses on his neck, then his chest._

_Sirius suddenly grabs her chin and kisses her full on the lips. He puts his arm around Kate and flips her over, reversing their positions, Kate now pinned to the bed and Sirius on top. _

_They keep their lips clasped together, as Sirius's hand trails down her shirt, itching to get under it. With their bodies intertwined, they tremble and breath uncontrollably. Sirius's hands begin to rub against Kate's bare thigh -_

"Kate, wake up. Kate!"

Wrenched from sleep, Kate abruptly sat up in bed, panting and writhing from the intense dream she just had.

"Ugh!" said Merle. "You're all sweaty and thrashy. Had a nightmare?"

Kate fell back against her bed, fatigued. "You have no idea," she muttered.

It wasn't the raunchy nature of the dream that bothered Kate, she had had sex dreams before. It was more of the fact that Sirius was involved. Kissing Sirius had proved to be a terrible idea. Now she would have to face the consequences by seeing Sirius again. The tension would be undoubtedly high.

Merle brought Kate out of her depressive thoughts. "You're not gonna sit there all day, are you? You've got things to do, showers to take, classes to attend."

"Yeah, thanks," said Kate moodily.

Kate had hoped that morning's shower would clear her head of unnatural thoughts, but it had the opposite effect. Standing naked and wet only reminded her of the dream again. After showering and dressing, Kate went downstairs and met her friends in the common room. They headed for breakfast.

As fate would have it, one of the first persons she saw was a certain black-haired, grey-eyed teenager sitting at the Gryffindor table. Kate blanched and tried to conceal herself using her hand. But when she was sure that she was walking right past him, Kate couldn't help herself - she glanced his way to see if he was staring. Much to her horror _he was_, and as soon as their eyes connected they both looked away, embarrassed. Kate felt her cheeks warm, and she vaguely wondered whether Sirius had the same type of dream she had.

"You seem extra skulky today, Kate," observed Lily once they found a place to sit down. "Something on your mind?"

Kate looked around the Great Hall in search of her other friends. Alice was sitting at Hufflepuff table, enjoying a very gooey and romantic breakfast with Frank. Leah was edging near the Slytherin table, talking trash to Regulus and his Quidditch team mates since the Quidditch final between Gryffindor and Slytherin was nearing. It was just Merle and Lily around, but even then she couldn't trust Merle to keep a secret.

"I'm fine," assured Kate, offering a fake smile. She would perhaps tell Lily about it later, much later, when she was feeling less versatile about the whole thing.

* * *

The matter was settled, no matter how much Kate would like to try to deny it. She had feelings for Sirius. Despite all of his immature antics, his hotheaded nature and his complete inability to refrain from being an arse, Kate liked Sirius Black to the core.

As she went through her classes that day, her mind kept drifting to Sirius. Wondering what he was doing, whether he was still bent up over his favorite uncle's death or if he was his old self again, how he felt about the kiss. And most notably, she yearned to see his handsome face again whenever he made a casual smart-ass remark.

"Dammit," Kate cursed at herself, after having made this new realization of a crush.

She was sitting in the middle of Transfiguration class, and her eyes kept wondering toward the back of Sirius's head. She honestly didn't want to end up like one of his fan girls, just gazing and giggling at how cute Sirius was, but the way she kept staring at him told her she was headed that way.

Lily sent Kate a strange look after she had cursed aloud. "Huh?" whispered Lily.

"Nothing," Kate whispered.

"No, tell me," hissed Lily fiercely. At this point Lily was annoyed at how absentminded Kate had been lately.

"No, honestly - " begun Kate, but she was cut off by Professor McGonagall.

"Since Ms Nolan finds her conversation of more importance than my lecture," said McGonagall coldly, staring harshly down at Kate, "why don't you share with the class what you were saying?"

"I'm very sorry, Professor," said Kate, flushing. Her eyes naturally went to Sirius. He stared at her curiously, like the rest of the class.

Kate silently cursed at herself again. She _really_ had to stop staring at Sirius.

Later that day, Lily cornered Kate in an empty hallway on their way to Astronomy class. This time, Lily demanded to know what was going on.

"Look, I'm just in a weird place right now," explained Kate. "It's almost the end of sixth year, I'm burnt out from all the studying I've done, and my personal life is not... ideal." Kate considered telling Lily at that moment about his kiss with Sirius, but ultimately held back. Trying to explain it to a baffled Lily would of taken effort that she just didn't have.

"Alright," sighed Lily. "Maybe it's some kind of existential crisis you're going through. Funnily enough, that usually only happens to middle aged men."

* * *

Kate intentionally showed up late to the next potions class. She wanted to delay contact with Sirius for as long as possible. It was childish, yes, but she still wasn't sure of what she was going to say to Sirius, and the thought of seeing him after the kiss made her wildly nervous.

When Kate entered the dungeons, late for the first time that year, she saw other students hunched over their desks, writing with their quills. The exams for potions had started.

Slughorn approached Kate and quietly said, "Five points from Gryffindor for tardiness, Ms Nolan. The essay questions are on the board, answer them carefully."

"Yes sir."

Sirius did not look up when Kate sat next to him. He was writing furiously on his parchment.

By the end of the class, Kate finished her essay questions and turned it into Professor Slughorn, being one of the last students to turn it in. Like her, Sirius had also turned his in, and he was sitting at his desk with doing to do but stare. This is what Kate had been avoiding. Students in the class were already starting to speak since most students were done with their essays.

Kate sat down again, and when she had, Sirius's head slightly jerked her way, and he spared her a quick glance. She shivered involuntarily when it had happened. The uneasiness between them was as high as ever, because they both knew what had happened between them and all that could be done was to sit there, anxious, embarrassed, waiting for the class to end.

* * *

There was only three days left of school, and Kate had made a decision. She was going to confront Sirius head on. She didn't want to delay it anymore. She had to speak with him.

After classes were over, Kate found Sirius strolling aimlessly in a dimly lit corridor.

"Oi Black!" shouted Kate, a new feeling of confidence surging inside her. Kate stalked after him in an empty corridor.

"Ah, my favorite sound in the world," sighed Sirius, facing Kate in the corridor.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she said mock angrily, but by the way Sirius stared uncertainly, she knew he wasn't sure whether she was being serious. "You haven't done anything wrong this past week, and it's making me paranoid."

"Excuse me?" said Sirius, a small grinned flitting his face.

"You haven't pranked, hexed, our mouthed off to anyone as far as I know," explained Kate. "It's the last week of school, shouldn't you be wreaking havoc? You know, for the sake of tormenting the staff and prefects, leave a lasting impression?"

"Nolan, I thought you were a bit keener than that. I've grown out of that phase."

Kate blinked at him in surprise. "Oh really? So you're saying that you've matured? I don't buy it. I think you're scheming for one last, huge all-out prank for the last day of school."

"No, but thanks for that idea, it's given me incentive."

Kate silently chuckled. "Perfect."

After a comfortable pause between the two, Sirius spoke up. "So is everything back to normal?"

"What do you mean?" said Kate.

"Come on, Nolan," said Sirius, seeing through her false obliviousness. "You know that everything's been..."

"Different, I noticed," finished Kate wryly. "I didn't want to mention it. You know, to avoid the whole awkward thing..."

"You mean that we kissed."

Kate let out a breath she had been holding in. Sirius was always one for being blunt. She leaned against the window seal right next to her, and Sirius joined by her side, leaning against it too, holding her gaze steadily.

"Like you said, I'd rather it all go back to normal. Contrary to popular belief, I actually like our ... bantering."

Sirius grinned. "Imagine if it _didn't _go back to normal."

"As in..." Kate paused, pondering the question, "us in a relationship? That would be a truly abominable idea."

"Agreed," said Sirius, still grinning. "We'd make a terrible couple."

"We'd fight all the time."

"And make each other miserable," added Sirius, scooting in closer.

"The break up would be horrid. We'd be so stubborn about it, and prolong the metaphorical beating of the dead horse, it would drag on forever."

"Exactly," said Sirius, scooting closer once again. Kate didn't like the look in his eye. "Which is why we wouldn't be good. Together."

"Good, so it's settled," said Kate, who despite her words, was losing all resolve and yearning to put her lips on Sirius again.

"Settled," said Sirius, then placed a hand on Kate's neck.

Instantly, they enclosed the leftover space between them with another kiss. It was clear to Kate now that she and Sirius were falling for one another.


	21. Chapter 21

AN- Warning: This chapter contains a notable amount of fluff. This is, after all, going to be a chapter about the first moments of their official relationship.

* * *

Chapter 21

* * *

"Where are you taking me?"

It was the next day. Kate found it surreal, she woke up that morning and realized that she was dating Sirius Black. By now all of her friends had gotten used to Kate's mood swings, going from distant and withdrawn to giddy and happy. They had no idea that she had fallen for Sirius, and Kate and Sirius agreed last night to keep from telling their friends for the time being.

After a day of taking exhaustive exams in all of her classes, she was handed a note by Sirius, asking to meet her in the same corridor they had met last time. Now Sirius was leading her down some hallways.

"Ta da!" said Sirius, stopping in front of an open broom cupboard.

"It's a broom cupboard," said Kate slowly, waiting for Sirius to make his point.

"Yeah," said Sirius, nodding. "What's more private than a broom cupboard?" He tried to nudge her inside, but her feet remained firmly glued to the floor.

"Oh no! No! Sirius!"

"What?" he said cluelessly.

"You did not just take me to a broom cupboard to snog! I thought we'd be classier than that!"

"It's just for the time being," sighed Sirius. "Until we can both muster the courage to tell our friends about us, we have to stick with our resolution to stay a secret. Anywhere else is out in the open, anybody could walk in and then tell the whole school. And come on. You know you've always wanted to disappear into a cupboard with a handsome boy, admit it!"

Sirius smiled charmingly at Kate and took her by the end. Kate sighed and reluctantly allowed Sirius to lead her into the closet. With any other boy she would have refused, but Sirius was persuasive.

"That doesn't stop this from being dirty," said Kate once they were inside. Sirius muttered lumos with his wand to give them some light, then set the wand on a shelf. "I can't wait until summer time, where we can actually schedule real dates and not hide in cupboards."

"Speaking of which," said Sirius after he had start giving her small kisses on her neck, "I counted my uncle's inheritance money. He left me enough so that I am now financially independent. What with me turning seventeen in a few weeks, I figure this summer would be a ripe time to move out of James's parents. Find my own place."

Kate smiled. "That's wonderful. Very mature. But why are you telling me?"

"Because I want you, Kate Nolan, to help me choose a place."

"Really?" gushed Kate.

"So you'll do it?"

"As long as you let me base my decision solely on the color of the house."

Sirius laughs, "This should be fun."

In the darkness, Sirius placed his lips gently on Kate's and they started in on each other.

Time seemed to fly by, and the more time she spent in the closet, the less she minded that it. Sirius had her so caught up in his kisses that she couldn't think straight. She'd never done so much snogging in her life.

However near the end of the night, a dose of the real world interrupted in the form of pouring light. For one horrifying moment, Kate and Sirius broke off to look at the opened doorway, thinking they'd been caught by a professor, or worse, one of their friends.

Instead, it was a gaping first year standing in the doorway.

"Uh," was all the first year croaked.

Sirius scowled. "Sorry, this space is occupied. Please try again later!" Sirius slammed the door shut at the first year, and tried to return to his position with Kate.

She however would have none of it, and at the last second yanked her head away when he pulled in for a kiss, mock cheerfully chanting, "Okay, we're done."

Sirius cursed under his breath as Kate exited the broom cupboard. He followed her out.

"Are we going to stop every time a problem crops up?" asked Sirius, trying to conceal the annoyance in his voice.

Kate abruptly spun around and faced him, a stricken expression on her face. "This secrecy thing is going to drive me mad, Sirius! We have to tell our friends, soon, or they'll find out the hard way. Through gossip."

"Well, it's not like they wouldn't deserve it," snapped Sirius. "James has been a complete berk lately. He's still throwing a hissy fit over Evans."

"Same with Lily, she's been really moody any time Potter is brought up," sighed Kate.

"We should just toss them in a broom cupboard, don't let them out until they work out their 'aggressions'," Sirius smirked evilly at the idea.

"That's why you're not in charge of anything," said Kate, biting back a laugh. She glanced at her wrist watch instead, and was startled to find that it was nearing midnight. "Come on, we've been gone for two hours. It's late."

Sirius let out a fake scoff as he followed Kate down the corridor. "You're not going to be one of _those_ girlfriends, are you?"

Kate smirked at being called his girlfriend for the first time. "You know very well I'm one of those girlfriends," she replied smartly.

"I know, I've just always wanted to say that."

It was difficult to get passed the portrait of the common room, since the Fat Lady first wanted to lecture at them how frustrating it is to be woken in the middle of the night, but she eventually let them in after Sirius repeatedly shouted, "Diricawl!" (the password) at her portrait.

Once they were inside the dim crimson, deserted room, Kate gave Sirius a peck on the cheek and whispered, "Goodnight."

Sirius, however, had other plans, and grabbed Kate by the elbow as she turned away. "Ah, not just yet, m'dear! Weren't you complaining earlier how the broom cupboard was lacking a romantic vibe? Well, this seems pretty cozy to me." He gestured toward their common room.

Kate grinned, then grabbed his hand to lead him to the red couch. "I said it wasn't classy, not romantic. Because anything that involves -" Kate kissed Sirius on the lips, "Sirius -" another kiss, "don't-know-your-middle-name -" another kiss, "Black -" another, "is romantic."

"Orion," said Sirius as they fell sideways together on the couch.

Kate paused yet another kiss, and said with a coy smirk, "That would make your initials S.O.B."

"Shut up," laughed Sirius, and they comfortably sunk into the couch so that Kate was lying on top of him. They kissed into the night.

* * *

"Ho-ly shit."

Those were the first words out of Merle's mouth that morning, the last morning of sixth year. There were truly no other words to express her shock, her dismay, at finding Kate Nolan and Sirius Black sleeping on the Gryffindor common room couch together.

Merle dashed up the girl's dormitory to snatch Lily. Lily was the one person who had to know.

When the two girls returned back downstairs, a crowd had formed around the sleeping couple. It consisted of some fifth years, a few seventh years, and all of the sixth years, just about anyone who were familiar with Kate and Sirius. Lily's hands cupped around her mouth in disbelief. Merle glanced at Sirius's friends, James and Peter, both of them were slightly stunned. Remus Lupin had been missing since yesterday, something about an ill mother, so he couldn't be here to witness this.

Eventually, the curious chatter grew to be so loud that it awoke both Kate and Sirius.

Kate blinked, and moved, until she realized she was on top of human skin. She looked down and saw Sirius, also stirring awake. After a few confusing seconds, Kate remembered that she and Sirius had spent their last hours of the night in the common room. They must have been so tired that they fell asleep on the couch instead of returning to their dorms.

In any other situation, Kate would have found waking up in Sirius's arms sweet, even exciting, but the voices floating around the room droned out any notions of excitement from her head.

"Hey," murmured Sirius, slightly smirking at Kate.

"I think we have an audience," said Kate ominously.

She chose that moment to sit up, off of Sirius, and glance around the Gryffindor common room uncomfortably. It was only around a group of ten people surrounding them, gossiping and staring at them. Kate's gaze landed on Lily and Merle. While Merle was looking on the verge of laughter and shaking her head in disbelief, Lily simply stared at Kate, stunned beyond words.

Sirius had enough. "What the hell is everyone looking at?" he announced loudly. "Why don't you all go back to your knitting... or something."

The crowd dispersed, with the exception of James and Lily, their two best friends, waiting for some sort of explanation. Once the common room was completely emptied, save for a two first years in the background who were minding their own business, James was the first to speak.

"I know this goes without saying," James begun, "but what the _hell_ is going on?"

"Yeah, I've been meaning to tell you," said Sirius, sitting up and shooting Kate a look that said 'This is it.' "Me and Kate, we're - "

"Don't finish that sentence!" Lily suddenly cut in. She looked at Kate desperately. "I don't understand. You guys were always so... difficult."

"I know," said Kate. "It just, sort of happened. An accident."

"When?"

"The other day. Sirius was feeling down, so I hugged him, then things got out of hand and we kissed. It just took off from there."

"Why were you hugging him in the first place?"

Kate refrained from telling Lily about Alphard Black's death, she didn't feel it was her place to tell. "He was feeling down, about something."

"My uncle died," supplied Sirius.

James looked a tad output at this information. "Uh, excuse me? Why wasn't I informed of this?" said James.

Kate glanced at Sirius, "You didn't tell him?"

"I was getting to it. Look, guys, we're not expecting you to be leaping for joy for us. But this reaction is really bugging. You're just staring at us like we're insane."

"You are insane!" burst Lily. "You're completely not right for each other!"

Sirius decided to be cute with her. "But you see, that's what makes us so right for each other!"

James and Lily made noises of objection, but they both ran out of things to say to them. Kate nudged Sirius and eyed the Fat Lady's portrait, indicating that she wanted to leave. James and Lily would need time to let this new information sink in.

"Right, well," announced Sirius. He suddenly picked Kate up and slung her over his shoulder. "We'll leave you two to deal with your shock. We're off to replenish our stomachs with food."

Sirius carried Kate out over his shoulder. "Bye you guys!" said Kate, laughing and waving at them.

Once James and Lily were left in the common room by themselves, only one thing could be said to break the resonant silence they were left in:

"They've gone completely mental!"

* * *

**NEW An-**

_Ok Ok I know the ending is abrupt, but I was in such a hurry to end it. If you guys want more Kate/Sirius use your imagination._

_Anyway, about the old AN, I'm sorry but there won't be an epilogue. Sorry! I wrote and rewrote part of an epilogue but all the versions turned out to be crap. So we'll just leave it at that._


	22. AN

***Updated author's note**-

Hello to my dear readers, it's been awhile since I originally completed this fic (and I feel like I'm cheating for using the word 'completed' because it ended so abruptly).

As of now I'm rereading this fic and making a few changes. It's mostly just cleaning up some of the grammar mistakes, rewriting some dialogue and changing around some of the characters (I deleted Alice! Sorry Alice!), and deleting/changing some of the scenes that I found too cheesy or unrealistic. If anybody spots any mistakes, let me know and I will change it!

If anyone's interested in the rewrites then have fun rereading, if not then sorry for wasting your time/getting your hopes up with this AN.

And on another note - _THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU_ to the fans of And Shut Up, 380-something reviews is pretty sweet! Love you guys.


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